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Washington found a program that cost billions and, surprise, the headlines had a field day. A fresh GAO audit says federal agencies recorded about $9.5 billion in paid administrative leave in 2025 — and roughly $6.7 billion of that is tied to the administration’s Deferred Resignation Program (DRP). That number is real. So are the problems the auditors flagged: payroll codes were a mess, and the government can’t yet prove whether the DRP actually saves money over the long run.
What the GAO report actually shows
The Government Accountability Office ran the numbers and covered roughly 95% of the civilian federal workforce. Their payroll review found paid administrative leave jumped sharply and that DRP-related leave accounted for millions of workdays and a large share of the 2025 total. But GAO was careful: its $6.7 billion figure is a payroll-based estimate of salaries, not a full cost‑and‑benefit accounting. The auditors repeatedly warn that OPM didn’t set up a separate code to track DRP leave, so attributing every hour to the program is messy and could overstate or understate the true cost.
OPM says it’s an investment — and DOGE’s track record matters
OPM Director Scott Kupor has defended the Deferred Resignation Program as voluntary and humane, arguing the one-time leave costs will produce more than $20 billion in annual savings. That’s an ambitious promise — and promises need proof. Independent estimates vary, and GAO’s earlier reviews already questioned some of DOGE’s big savings claims. In plain English: the administration says “we’ll save big,” auditors say “maybe,” and other analysts give smaller numbers. Meanwhile, the payroll system didn’t keep clean receipts.
The real scandal is bad bookkeeping, not just a big headline
Republicans should cheer efforts to shrink waste and reform government, but we also have to demand real accounting. GAO’s central recommendation is simple and sensible: create a dedicated payroll category for workforce‑reduction leave and disclose remaining data issues. OPM agreed. That fix would let anyone — right, left, or center — check whether the DRP is a smart one‑time cost or a costly stunt disguised as reform. Mocking headlines sell clicks. Clean books produce answers.
Bottom line: the GAO report is the news peg and its $9.5 billion/$6.7 billion figures deserve scrutiny. But the louder lesson is structural — sloppy tracking and optimistic claims don’t pass for oversight. If the administration actually delivers $20 billion a year in savings, great. If it doesn’t, taxpayers deserve to know. Until the payroll codes are cleaned up and the numbers reconciled, Democrats can scream “waste” and officials can promise “savings” — and the rest of us will be left to guess which is true. That uncertainty is the real story.
