The Trump administration spent an estimated $9.5 billion on paid administrative leave for federal employees in 2025, six times the combined cost in 2023 and 2024, as it pursued a major workforce reduction, the Government Accountability Office said. Paid administrative leave increased 435% from 2023 to 2025, and GAO attributed $6.7 billion of the 2025 total to the Deferred Resignation Program, a buyout offered by the Office of Personnel Management in January 2025 as part of the Department of Government Efficiency's workforce-reduction effort. The program allowed employees to resign or stop working while continuing to receive pay through Sept. 30, 2025. GAO estimated that 144,312 employees accepted the offer, compared with the administration's projection of 200,000. OPM data separately show that 271,000 employees have left the federal government since President Trump began his term. Scott Kupor, OPM director, said the $9.5 billion represented a one-time cost associated with reducing the workforce by 270,000 employees and producing $40 billion in annual taxpayer savings. GAO warned that OPM cannot determine the precise cost of workforce-reduction leave because it is combined with general administrative leave, and said the available data do not show whether the intended long-term savings were achieved. The report recommended that OPM improve transparency and create a separate reporting category. A separate GAO review also found that DOGE could not provide sufficient information to verify the calculation method for 96% of its reported $110 billion in savings.