The Trump administration spent an estimated $9.5 billion on paid administrative leave for federal workers in 2025, according to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). This amount represents a dramatic increase, with agencies using such leave growing by 435% compared to 2023, and salary costs from this leave rising six times over. A significant portion of the increased spending—about $6.7 billion—was attributed to a “deferred resignation program” introduced during the Trump administration. Nearly 140,000 federal employees participated in this program, which allowed them to resign in early 2025 but still receive pay through September. The deferred resignation program was launched shortly after Trump began his second term. Federal workers received an email titled “Fork in the Road,” outlining their choices. At the time, then-White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt explained that employees who wished to leave the federal workforce could do so and still receive a generous eight-month payment. This approach was part of a broader effort to reshape the federal workforce, which has seen over 271,000 employees depart since Trump returned to office, according to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). This includes both voluntary and involuntary exits. Notably, the federal workforce had been growing every year from 2015 until Trump’s second term began. The GAO report emphasized that its figures are estimates, as OPM lacks precise data on the actual costs of paid administrative leave used for workforce reductions. The report explained that OPM cannot accurately calculate long-term savings without knowing the short-term costs of this leave, which are often grouped with other general administrative leave expenses. This lack of clarity complicates efforts to assess the financial impact of the administration’s workforce strategies. In 2025, President Trump also created the Department of Government Efficiency, led by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk. This new department was responsible for large-scale layoffs and the dissolution of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Musk had previously implemented similar workforce changes at his company, X, where he sent an email with the same subject line to employees. However, the White House has not yet responded to requests for comment on the GAO’s findings.