Federal Workforce: Deferred Resignation Program Largely Responsible for Sixfold Increase in Paid Administrative Leave Salary Costs
What GAO Found GAO’s review of payroll data found that federal agencies’ use of paid administrative leave increased by 435 percent from 2023 to 2025. GAO estimates federal agencies in our review spent $9.5 billion in salary costs on paid administrative leave in 2025, a sixfold increase from 2023. In 2025, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) directed agencies to use paid administrative leave to support the deferred resignation program, which generally allowed federal employees to be placed on leave until they resigned or retired by September 30, 2025. Using program assumptions and internal time and attendance data provided by payroll service providers, GAO calculated about $6.7 billion..
Reported by Maria LopezFederal Workforce: Deferred Resignation Program Largely Responsible for Sixfold Increase in Paid Administrative Leave Salary Costs.
The item is dated Tue, 15 Sep 2026 07:10:01 -0400.
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What GAO Found GAO’s review of payroll data found that federal agencies’ use of paid administrative leave increased by 435 percent from 2023 to 2025.
GAO estimates federal agencies in our review spent $9.5 billion in salary costs on paid administrative leave in 2025, a sixfold increase from 2023.
In 2025, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) directed agencies to use paid administrative leave to support the deferred resignation program, which generally allowed federal employees to be placed on leave until they resigned or retired by September 30, 2025.
Using program assumptions and internal time and attendance data provided by payroll service providers, GAO calculated about $6.7 billion…
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Official Source
GAO reports and testimonies RSS. Accessed 2026-09-15T15:00:12.312Z.