$9.5B Paid Leave Estimate Raises Questions

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Federal agencies paid an estimated $9.5 billion in 2025 for workers on administrative leave, with most of it tied to a program that paid people to resign, according to a new Government Accountability Office review.

Story Snapshot

Government Accountability Office estimated $9.5 billion in paid administrative leave in 2025, a sixfold jump from 2023.
About $6.7 billion of the total was linked to the Deferred Resignation Program, which encouraged federal workers to quit.
Workdays of paid leave surged to about 21.6 million in 2025, up from roughly 4–4.4 million in 2023–2024.
Office of Personnel Management said the cost is a one-time tradeoff for long-term savings; GAO questioned the tracking of true costs.

What GAO Found About Paid Leave In 2025

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimated that federal agencies spent $9.5 billion on paid administrative leave in 2025. Reporting describes this as a sixfold increase from 2023 and a rise of about 435 percent over two years. The number is an estimate, based on agency data GAO reviewed. GAO’s topline drives a simple point home: the federal government paid far more people to stay home in 2025 than in prior years, and it carried a real price tag.

GAO-linked reporting ties about $6.7 billion of the $9.5 billion to a single policy: the Deferred Resignation Program. That program offered federal employees a path to leave their jobs by a set date while remaining on the payroll for a time. Several outlets report that roughly 70 percent of 2025 paid leave was connected to this program. The surge also showed up in time lost: reported paid leave days rose to about 21.6 million in 2025.

How The Deferred Resignation Program Drove Costs

Coverage connects the leave surge to the Trump administration’s effort to shrink the federal workforce, led in part by the Department of Government Efficiency. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued guidance that allowed agencies to place employees who chose deferred resignation on paid administrative leave until their end date, within legal limits and agency discretion. This made the leave increase a built-in feature of the program once many employees opted in.

Reporting cites large participation. One broadcast summary says about 144,000 employees accepted buyouts tied to the program, which helps explain the large leave totals. OPM Director Scott Kupper defended the expense as a one-time cost that would be offset by projected annual savings of $40 billion from a smaller workforce. That defense frames the $9.5 billion not as waste, but as an upfront cost to get to lower payroll later.

Accountability, Data Gaps, And Why Both Sides Care

GAO’s summary, as reported by NBC News, stated that OPM does not know the actual costs of the paid leave used for workforce reduction, including the deferred resignations. That caveat matters because it means the $9.5 billion is an estimate, not a final ledger total. Even so, the reported spike and its tie to a named program give the public a clear view into how transition policies can move big money with real tradeoffs.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently published a report detailing how the Trump administration’s efforts to downsize the government led to $9.5 billion being spent on salary costs for administrative leave in 2025. This is six times the amount spent on… pic.twitter.com/xTXDAb4A1L

— Straight Arrow (@StraightArrow__) September 18, 2026

Conservatives who want smaller government will see progress on headcount, but they may question why taxpayers paid billions for people not to work. Liberals who fear cuts to public services will see disruption and a costly push to reorganize. Both groups share a core worry: leaders often promise savings while the system quietly racks up transition costs that are hard to track and easy to bury inside payroll codes. That tension sits at the heart of this story.

Why This Matters Beyond One Budget Line

Federal management history shows this pattern often repeats. Big reorganizations and buyouts can lower costs later, but they usually carry heavy short-term bills in severance, incentives, and paid leave. The mechanics of administrative leave add another twist. Agencies have wide discretion, and the spending lives inside time and attendance systems, not a bright, single budget line. That makes it tough for the public to see the true price in real time.

Here, the facts are straightforward. GAO’s estimate says the paid leave bill jumped to $9.5 billion in 2025, with most tied to a program designed to speed exits from federal service. OPM says taxpayers will gain from a smaller government in the long run. GAO questions how well the government tracked the costs in the short run. For citizens who think Washington serves insiders first, this looks like the same old math problem—and the same old trust problem—playing out again.