- A Government Accountability Office report revealed federal employees were paid $9.5 billion not to work during a DOGE-led effort to shrink the government.
- The surge in paid administrative leave was largely driven by the Deferred Resignation Program, which paid nearly 140,000 workers full compensation through September 2025 following their resignations.
- Democratic Senator Patty Murray condemned the spending as a wasteful expenditure that pushed out essential government experts.
- The Office of Personnel Management defended the policy, stating the one-time expense yields $40 billion in annual savings for taxpayers.
- When Trump took office, Musk became the de facto head of DOGE - an acronym that stands for Department of Government Efficiency, but shares a name with Musk’s favored meme-based cryptocurrency. The official DOGE website estimates that around $215 billion has been saved overall through its efforts.
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