The United States government, following the management of the downsizing program titled DOGE, paid $9.5 billion to federal employees to refrain from working. According to a report from the Government Accountability Office, these payments have significantly increased during the period from 2023 to 2025.
Increase in Administrative Payments
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) report indicates that administrative payments increased by 435 percent from 2023 to 2025. About $6.7 billion of this amount is related to the deferred resignation program. This program allows federal employees to resign in exchange for full pay and benefits until September 30, 2025.
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The government announced that this program, which was offered to about 2 million federal employees in January 2025, received interest from 139,963 individuals. This statistic shows that many employees were inclined to leave their jobs while the government was paying them.
Criticism of the Trump Administration
Senator Patty Murray, Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, strongly criticized the Trump administration, stating: "After promising to cut costs, Trump wasted billions of taxpayer dollars to pay individuals to leave their preferred jobs. This had a particularly negative impact in areas such as cancer research and national park care."
Murray added: "Trump spent billions to fire experienced and needed professionals in the government, which became the most expensive way to worsen government conditions."
In response to the criticisms, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) criticized the GAO report, stating that the report ignores the difference between a one-time cost of $9.5 billion for downsizing the government and an annual savings of $40 billion from taxpayer money. A spokesperson for the office said: "This 400 percent return on investment has tremendous benefits for taxpayers."
Downsizing the government was one of Trump's key policies during his campaign for the 2024 election and had the support of Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX.
During Trump's presidency, Elon Musk was informally appointed as the head of DOGE, which stands for the Department of Government Efficiency. This department was shut down in July, and its informal leadership left the Trump administration a year earlier due to rumors of a rift with the president.
According to estimates from the official DOGE website, approximately $215 billion has been saved through the efforts of this department.
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Source: independent.co.uk
