Federal government paying 154K not to work: Report
The federal government is reportedly paying more than 154,000 employees not to report to work under the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program.
Thousands have been receiving pay since June and will continue to be compensated until the end of fiscal 2025, according to a report from the The Washington Post.
The outlet spoke with two Office of Personnel Management (OPM) officials under the condition of anonymity. The exact number of individual salaries being shelled out remains unknown.
OPM spokesperson McLaurine Pinover told the Post that more than 150,000 employees were offered “a dignified and generous departure” from the federal government.
“It also delivered incredible relief to the American taxpayer. No previous administration has gotten even close to saving American taxpayers this amount of money in such a short amount of time,” Pinover said in a statement.
OPM and the White House did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment on the matter.
Democrats have openly slammed the deferred resignation program as a wasteful measure.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), ranking member on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee for investigations, has called for a probe into the layoffs as part of a broader investigation into the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“In the absence of reliable information from the Trump Administration regarding DOGE’s activities, the Subcommittee was forced to estimate the costs that DOGE has imposed on the American people in just six months. As a result, the Subcommittee’s estimation that DOGE has generated more than $21.7 billion in waste likely represents only a portion of DOGE’s true financial impact,” Blumenthal wrote in a Tuesday letter to Inspector General Michael Horowitz.
The Connecticut Democrat stated that $14.8 billion was wasted under the deferred resignation program, which paid almost 200,000 employees not to work for up to eight months.
He said $6.1 billion was used on an additional 100,000 employees involuntarily removed from federal service and those who remain on prolonged periods of administrative leave pending separation, according to a minority report for the subcommittee released on Tuesday.
“As an inspector general, it is your duty to root out waste fraud and abuse in the federal programs maintained by the agency that you oversee,” Blumenthal said.
“In light of the Subcommittee’s findings, I write to request that you initiate a comprehensive review of DOGE’s activities within your agency in order to determine the full scope of costs that DOGE’s careless actions have imposed.”