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The government is paying more than 154,000 federal employees not to work after they accepted the deferred resignation offer — and they’re spending their paid leave job hunting, doing yoga, and watching YouTube, according to a report.
The figure, reported by the Washington Post, accounts for the tens of thousands of federal workers who accepted the government’s offer as of June that allowed employees to “retain all pay and benefits” through September 30 and voluntarily leave their jobs.
The offer, originally sent out by the Office of Personnel Management in January, came after President Donald Trump mandated in-person work requirements for the federal workforce, the size of which the Department of Government Efficiency aimed to significantly shrink.
The move has led to a rapid reduction in federal workers, two officials at the Office of Personnel Management told the Post, with the resignations accounting for nearly seven percent of the government’s civilian workforce.
The Independent has reached out to the OPM and White House for comment.
“Ultimately, the deferred resignation program was not only legal, it provided over 150,000 civil servants a dignified and generous departure from the federal government,” the agency spokesperson told the Post. “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.”
Although DOGE set out to eliminate “waste” in the federal government, some critics have argued that the buyouts were a waste of taxpayer dollars. Those who took the offer, meanwhile, have been spending the break as they please.
An Agriculture Department employee, who’s been on paid leave since April, told the Post that he’s spent his free time watching comedians play a Dungeons and Dragons game, improv, and crafters on YouTube. He applied to more than 130 jobs before landing one at an animal health company that offered him a salary much greater than the $61,000 salary from the government, he said.
For six weeks, his federal job and new job would overlap, meaning he’d be temporarily raking in cash from two salaries. His new role would earn him enough that his wife would be able to quit her job, he told the outlet. In the meantime, he goes fishing and dines out, all on the government’s dime.
He recalled telling his wife: “As much as I don’t want to admit it, this ended up being a blessing in disguise.”
Brian Griffin, a former marketing specialist at the Agriculture Department making $132,000, had been planning to retire in December when he was given the deferred resignation offer. He’s been on leave since May.
“When they are offering me full pay and benefits from May through September, you have to be kind of silly to say no to that,” Griffin told the Post.
One worker has found the new reality a bit more difficult. An Education Department employee, who makes $130,000, said she was put on administrative leave — a move that has left her reeling.
“My work is my whole identity,” said the employee, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. “I’m also sensitive to the fact that the American public would say, ‘What are you crying about? You’re getting paid.’”
The government has so far paid her $65,000 not to work, while she has also accrued three weeks of vacation time since being put on leave. Some of her free time is dedicated to swimming and doing yoga but for most of it, she’s frustrated.
“I will sometimes wake up and say, ‘Why do I get out of bed today?’” she told the outlet.
Aside from the emotional effects the cuts had on many government employees, the American taxpayer could also be affected by DOGE’s workforce reductions.
An analysis by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington last week, which looked at a few of the agencies impacted, found that DOGE’s workforce slashes could result in a loss of over $10 billion in U.S.-based economic activity and the closure of programs that have put over $26 billion in funds back into the pockets of taxpayers.
A minority staff report from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Thursday also revealed that DOGE generated an estimated $21 billion in waste on mass layoffs and terminations. That figure included $14.8 billion for the deferred resignation program.
“This report is a searing indictment of DOGE’s false claims. At the very same time that the Trump Administration is cutting health care, nutrition assistance, and emergency services in the name of ‘efficiency’ and ‘savings,’ they have enabled DOGE’s reckless waste of at least $21.7 billion dollars,” Blumenthal, the subcommittee’s ranking member, said in a statement to the Post.
“As my PSI investigation has shown, DOGE was clearly never about efficiency or saving the American taxpayer money.”
