In a statement, Obama said "families are tightening their belts, and so should Washington."
Aides making above $100,00 include the high-profile jobs of White House chief of staff, national security adviser and press secretary. Other aides who work in relative anonymity also fit into that cap, if Obama follows a structure similar to the one George W. Bush set up.
"They deserve a government that truly is of, and by, the American people," Obama said.
He also announced a change in policy that will require each federal agency and department to give full attention to Freedom of Information requests and said he expects members of his administration to be responsive to such pleas.
"Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this administration," Obama said in a statement to reporters.
He said the orders he was issuing Wednesday do not go as far as he would like, but that they do go a long way toward "marking a new era" in America.
