Feds spent $6.7B paying buyout takers to stay home, GAO finds

(The Center Square) – The federal government spent an estimated $6.7 billion in 2025 paying employees to stay home under its deferred resignation buyouts, and the agency that ran the program cannot say exactly what it cost.

The Government Accountability Office found in a report released this week that federal agencies spent about $9.5 billion in salary costs on paid administrative leave in 2025, six times the 2023 level. Use of the leave rose 435% over the same period. GAO estimated about $6.7 billion of that, roughly 70%, went to the deferred resignation program.