{
  "id": 7787897,
  "title": "Federal employees paid $9.5 billion not to work in 2025: GAO",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/federal-employees-paid-9-5-billion-not-to-work-in-2025-gao",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-16T12:59:47.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "ABC News (US)",
    "slug": "abc-news-us",
    "url": "https://abcnews.com/Politics/federal-employees-paid-95-billion-work-2025-gao/story?id=136490298"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The federal government spent $9.5 billion in 2025 to pay workers not to perform their duties, as reported by the Government Accountability Office. This figure represents a significant increase from the $1.6 billion allocated for administrative leave costs in 2023. The Department of Government Efficiency's initiative, known as deferred resignations, resulted in a 435% rise in paid administrative leave costs last year. Nearly 140,000 federal workers accepted the government's buyout offer, which allowed them to leave their jobs and receive pay through September 2025. The effort to shrink the federal workforce began with a cryptic email titled \"Fork in the Road,\" which offered workers a one-time opportunity to exit the workforce in exchange for payment. While the Trump administration claimed that the program led to hundreds of billions in savings, outside experts have been unable to verify these claims. Some departments have partially reversed their cuts and rehired workers to fulfill government needs, while others continue to relocate staff to regional hubs. The national debt and federal spending have both increased during the Trump administration's second term.",
  "summary": "The federal workforce shrunk by roughly 216,000 workers in 2025, according to federal data.",
  "key_points": [
    "Federal employees received $9.5 billion in deferred resignations in 2025.",
    "Paid administrative leave costs surged 435% from 2023 levels.",
    "Over 140,000 workers accepted buyout offers to leave jobs through September 2025."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Hill",
        "title": "Federal employees were paid nearly $7B not to work under DOGE effort: GAO",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/federal-employees-were-paid-nearly-7b-not-to-work-under-doge-effort",
        "published": "2026-09-16T14:17:02.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}