The Trump administration has paid federal employees at least $11 billion – and likely much more – not to work, according to a new Public Citizen report. The total reflects only the lower end of estimated costs for the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) and it does not look at other federal efforts to reduce the number of federal workers.
The report dives into the gross mismanagement of taxpayer funds, the major personnel losses across government agencies and what, instead, the federal government could have spent $11 billion on effectively.
Here are some key findings:
- The Trump administration paid nearly 140,000 federal employees who took part in the Deferred Resignation Program at least $11 billion to stop working for the American public and to stay home or take vacation until they separated from federal service.
- More than 106,000 federal employees separated from federal service in September 2025 under the Deferred Resignation Program, and an additional 24,000 employees in the DRP left federal service by the end of December 2025.
- As a result of the DRP, the Department of Defense lost more than 48,000 civilian employees last year, the Department of Treasury lost 23,000 federal employees, and the Department of Agriculture more than 14,500 employees.
- Several federal court cases ruled that some of the Trump administration’s layoffs were illegal and demanded that terminated employees at the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, Interior, Labor, and other agencies return to work. However, there are a multitude of ongoing court cases and some of those initial court decisions have been overruled in federal appeals courts.
- At least 10 federal agencies were forced to rehire employees that had chosen to take part in the Deferred Resignation Program because they realized these employees were essential to the agency’s Congressionally mandated work on behalf of all Americans.
“The Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the federal government have been stupid, costly and deadly,” said Douglas Pasternak, Public Citizen researcher who authored the report. “The administration has spent more than $11 billion on the Deferred Resignation Program alone, paying 140,000 federal workers to stay home or take vacation while they were still being paid by the American taxpayer. Multiple agencies had to rehire those who took part in this program because Trump officials realized how vital they were to managing critical national programs. Even worse is the work left undone by the coerced departure of these workers, costing billions of dollars and putting untold numbers of lives at risk as the federal government fails to perform crucial functions.”
This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Newswire Editor.