September 15, 2026 · Personnel, Competence & Administrative Failure
· GAO report
Confirmed
GAO Finds DOGE's Deferred-Resignation Program Cost $9.5 Billion in Paid Leave
A Government Accountability Office report found the federal government paid more than $9.5 billion in 2025 to employees on paid administrative leave under DOGE's deferred-resignation program -- a 435% increase in such leave, six times 2023 levels. The Office of Personnel Management directed agencies to place employees on leave until they resigned or retired by Sept. 30, 2025.
About 2 million federal workers were offered the deferred-resignation buyout, and roughly 140,000 accepted. Agencies have since had to rescind some resignations and backfill more than 20,000 positions. The finding undercuts the administration's framing of DOGE as a pure cost-cutting effort: the administration has claimed $200 billion in total savings from its efforts, a figure GAO's report does not independently confirm.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Congress the same day that a new spending-cut initiative "is coming."
About 2 million federal workers were offered the deferred-resignation buyout, and roughly 140,000 accepted. Agencies have since had to rescind some resignations and backfill more than 20,000 positions. The finding undercuts the administration's framing of DOGE as a pure cost-cutting effort: the administration has claimed $200 billion in total savings from its efforts, a figure GAO's report does not independently confirm.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Congress the same day that a new spending-cut initiative "is coming."