The federal government spent about $9.5 billion last year to pay its employees who were not working. This information was released in a new report from the Government Accountability Office, which shows that most of these costs are related to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) plan aimed at reducing the federal workforce.
Increased Use of Paid Administrative Leave
The report, released on Tuesday, indicates that the use of paid administrative leave has increased by 435% from 2023 to 2025, and related salary costs have increased sixfold. The Government Accountability Office estimates that $6.7 billion, equivalent to 70% of total costs in 2025, is related to the government's deferred resignation program. This agency analyzed payroll data from 76 agencies representing about 95% of the federal civilian workforce.
Details of the Deferred Resignation Program
In January 2025, the Trump administration offered approximately 2 million federal employees the option to resign while continuing to receive pay and benefits until September 30. This proposal was aimed at encouraging voluntary exits under an arrangement called deferred resignation. The Office of Personnel Management instructed agencies to place employees who accepted this offer on paid administrative leave until their exit. Some agencies later implemented additional deferred resignation programs.
According to federal workforce data, 139,963 federal employees exited the government through deferred resignation programs. This plan was part of a broader campaign by the Trump administration under DOGE aimed at reducing unnecessary federal costs. Elon Musk, the tech billionaire known as the public face of DOGE, initially promised to save the federal government $2 trillion but later reduced the target to $1 trillion. The DOGE website ultimately claimed to have achieved an estimated $215 billion in savings, but this figure has not been independently verified.
Workforce Reduction and Its Consequences
Federal data showed that since President Donald Trump took office until July of this year, the number of federal civilian employees has decreased by 271,363, or 12% of the federal workforce. These reductions have not been uniform across various agencies, with the largest drop occurring at USAID between December 2024 and January 2026, where the workforce decreased by 95%. There were also workforce reductions of 46% at the Department of Education, 37% at the General Services Administration, and 34% at the Office of Personnel Management.
Some agencies later had to replace employees who had been laid off due to these programs. The Public Service Partnership identified 20,557 hires by June 2026 in the same types of employee roles that had left through deferred resignation.
The Director of the Office of Personnel Management, Scott Cooper, defended the program's economy in a letter to the Government Accountability Office report, stating that workforce reductions are expected to save $20 billion annually, while the $6.7 billion was a one-time cost.
The Trump administration also undertook other efforts to reduce the federal government. Trump issued a hiring freeze on his first day in office and instructed agencies to hire only one person for every four exits, except in cases of national security and other priorities. There have also been widespread legal issues related to workforce reductions.
