Federal agencies spent nearly $10 billion on paid leave as Trump-era resignation program spikes
The GAO reports that in 2025 federal agencies paid almost $10 billion to place over 100,000 workers on extended paid administrative leave, largely due to the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program.
A GAO review shows federal agencies allocated close to $10 billion to put more than 100,000 civil servants on paid administrative leave in 2025, a six-fold rise from two years prior. Approximately 70% of that amount, about $6.7 billion, funded the deferred resignation program (DRP), which compensates employees for staying home until they resign by September 2025 or, for retirees, by December. The program drove a surge in leave days, from 4 million in 2023 and 4.4 million in 2024 to 21.6 million in 2025, peaking at nearly 3 million workdays in July 2025, most linked to the DRP.
OPM’s long-awaited regulations under the 2016 Administrative Leave Act were set to become effective in September 2025, and the agency now proposes a rule treating workforce realignment as a valid leave reason, limiting DRP leave to 12 weeks. GAO warned that misreporting and the absence of a dedicated leave category obscure the true cost of the program, making it impossible to verify the claimed $20 billion annual savings. In response, OPM director Scott Kupor said the agency will create a new payroll element to track workforce-reduction leave.
Why it matters
Taxpayers are footing billions for paid leave while the government lacks clear data to assess the cost-effectiveness of its workforce-reduction strategy.
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