The Trump administration spent an estimated $9.5 billion paying federal employees who were on administrative leave in 2025, as it moved to significantly reduce the size of the federal workforce, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.About $6.7 billion of the total was associated with the administration’s deferred resignation programme. The scheme was part of the workforce reduction effort led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which was spearheaded by billionaire Elon Musk. Under the scheme, federal employees who agreed to resign could continue receiving their salaries through September 30, 2025.The GAO found that federal agencies’ use of paid administrative leave increased by 435% between 2023 and 2025. Reported workdays spent on administrative leave rose from about 4 million in 2023 to 21.6 million last year.The figures provide an estimate of the immediate cost of a major component of the Trump administration’s effort to reduce the federal workforce and government spending.The administration launched its deferred resignation programme in January 2025, offering about two million federal employees a one-time opportunity to resign while continuing to receive pay through September. About 139,963 workers ultimately accepted the offer, according to federal workforce data cited by the GAO.The Agriculture, Defence and Treasury departments recorded the largest numbers of employees taking deferred resignations.The workforce reduction was substantial. GAO data show that nearly 378,000 employees separated from 22 major federal agencies during 2025, while about 127,000 people were hired. Overall staffing at those agencies fell by more than 11% between December 2024 and January 2026.However, the watchdog said the government has not been able to establish the long-term savings generated by the workforce reductions.The Office of Personnel Management does not have a reliable system for identifying how much administrative leave was specifically connected to workforce-reduction programmes, according to the GAO. That makes it difficult to compare the immediate cost of keeping employees on paid leave with any savings generated by their eventual departure.The $9.5 billion figure also comes with a data caveat. The GAO found problems with the underlying administrative-leave records and said the estimate could differ from the actual amount. Among the issues identified was an unusually high amount of leave reported during pay periods containing public holidays, when those holidays should not have been counted as administrative leave.The workforce changes have also led some agencies to recruit again for positions left vacant by departing employees. Hiring has included lawyers and technology workers, while agencies have also placed greater emphasis on bringing in early-career employees.The Partnership for Public Service has estimated that more than 20,000 positions left vacant following deferred resignations have since been filled.Critics have questioned the cost and consequences of the workforce reductions, arguing that the departures resulted in the loss of experienced federal employees and created staffing gaps.Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, criticised the expense involved in the programme.“Trump spent billions to push out experienced and badly needed experts across government,” Murray said in a statement Tuesday, describing the approach as an expensive way to reduce the federal workforce.The Trump administration has defended its workforce changes as part of a broader effort to reduce the size and cost of government.
