USA16 September, 20262 min read
Trump Administration Spent $9.5 Billion on Paid Leave for Federal Workers Under DOGE Plan
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9.5 billion dollars spent on paid administrative leave in 2025. Leave costs rose sixfold compared to 2023, according to GAO.
Paid Leave, No Work
The Trump administration spent an estimated $9.5 billion in 2025 on paid administrative leave for federal workers as it pushed to cut costs by shrinking the government, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Tuesday. NBC News said agencies’ use of paid administrative leave jumped by 435% from 2023 to 2025, with salary costs from such leave rising sixfold, and it tied much of the increased leave cost—about $6.7 billion—to a DOGE-era “deferred resignation program.”
The New York Times reported that the deferred resignations program increased the use of paid administrative leave by 435 percent during the first year of President Trump’s second term, representing a sixfold increase since 2023. Under the deferred resignation program, federal workers who agreed to quit in early 2025 were still paid through September, and the Office of Personnel Management said it “does not know the actual costs of the paid administrative leave used for workforce reduction efforts.”
Fork in the Road
CNN reported that the deferred resignation program was spearheaded by tech billionaire Elon Musk and that federal staffers were allowed to resign but first be placed on paid leave for several months without having to work as an incentive to sign up. CNN said GAO estimated about $6.7 billion was spent on the deferred resignation program, through which more than 144,000 employees were put on leave, while OPM data showed just under 140,000 workers participated.
The program was launched days after Trump took office in January 2025 through an email with the subject line “Fork in the Road,” and CNN said unions had warned workers not to take the offer and unsuccessfully sued to halt it. In response to the GAO report, OPM director Scott Kupor told CNN that it “fails to highlight the difference between a one-time expense ($9.5 billion) to reduce the size of the federal government by 270,000 employees” and the $40 billion per year savings OPM said the reduction provides.
Savings, Litigation, and Fallout
Time Magazine reported that GAO analyzed payroll data from 76 agencies representing around 95% of the civilian federal workforce, and it said GAO estimated $6.7 billion—around 70% of the 2025 total—was associated with the deferred resignation program. Time said the initiative was part of a broader DOGE campaign to cut what it saw as wasteful federal spending, with Elon Musk initially promising $2 trillion before lowering the target to $1 trillion, and it noted DOGE’s website claimed $215 billion in estimated savings that “has not been independently confirmed.”
“DOGE’s website ultimately claimed $215 billion in estimated savings. That figure has not been independently confirmed.”
Time also described workforce reductions tied to the same period, saying federal data showed a net decline of 271,363 civilian federal employees—around 12% of the federal workforce—between President Donald Trump’s inauguration and July this year. In a statement Tuesday, Democratic Senator Patty Murray accused the administration of weakening public services, saying “Trump spent billions to push out experienced and badly needed experts across government,” and CNN reported OPM’s director Scott Kupor defended the program as a “massive benefit to the taxpayer.”