Theresa May's chiefs of staff are paid £140,000 each despite the Prime Minister's pledge to curb the pay of special advisers.
Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill are among 27 special advisers earning more than the pay cap put forward by Mrs May in the summer.
The pay packet means they are earning nearly double a backbench MP, only slightly less than senior cabinet ministers and about five times the national average wage.
Mrs May is paid around £143,000.
Mr Timothy and Ms Hill have seen their pay double since they were at the Home Office with Mrs May, when they were earning £74,000.
Ms Hill was recently embroiled in the spat between Mrs May and former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan over the Prime Minister's brown leather trousers. Ms Hill apparently fired off a message saying: "Don't bring that woman to No 10 again."
She was forced to leave the Home Office after releasing a confidential letter during a row between Mrs May and then Education Secretary Michael Gove over extremism in schools.
Mr Timothy has been described in turns as Mrs May's "thinker in chief" and as her "Rasputin". A former grammar school boy, he has helped shape her thinking on education policy and his concerns over China and security were thought to be behind her delaying the Hinkley decision.
The pay disclosure has led to the claim Mrs May has broken her promises - although the number of special advisers in her administration has been reduced from 95 to 83.
The total bill for special advisers, taxpayer funded political appointments, is £7.9m, with eight earning the top bracket of £95,000 to £142,000.
In a supposed clampdown on pay, which spiralled under Tony Blair's government, Mrs May stipulated no new special adviser should earn more than £72,000 unless authorised by Downing Street.
Tom Watson, Labour's deputy leader, said: "While most people are having to tighten their belts under the Tories, it's a completely different story for those in Theresa May's inner circle.
"Some of these pay rises are eye-watering. It shows that, for the Tories, it's one rule for them and another for everyone else."
The figures, released late on the day Parliament broke for Christmas, also show that David Cameron paid out £1.7m in golden goodbyes for his staff - less than the £1.8m Gordon Brown paid out in 2010.
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