U.S. Paid $9.5 Billion for Federal Workers Not to Work in 2025, GAO Says

The U.S. spent $9.5 billion in 2025 paying federal workers not to work as part of efforts to shrink the federal workforce, six times the 2023 cost, the Government Accountability Office said. Leave days rose 435% to 21.6 million. GAO defines the leave as "an excused absence without loss of pay or charge to leave."