United States of America

Report: Paid Leave for US Federal Workers Hit $9.5B in 2025

Did DOGE waste $9.5 billion or finally break a bureaucracy that would never reform itself?

3 hours ago·Updated 1 hour ago

Report: Paid Leave for US Federal Workers Hit $9.5B in 2025

Story

Above: Elon Musk in China on May 14. Image credit: Johannes Neudecker/picture alliance/Getty Images

The Spin

Democratic narrative

This was another Trump administration embarrassment. DOGE billed itself as a cost-cutter and instead burned roughly $9.5 billion paying federal workers to sit home and do nothing. The promised $2 trillion in savings collapsed to $215 billion in unverified claims, and outside reviews put the real figure near half that. Agencies got hollowed out, services got worse and taxpayers ate the bill.

Karly Kingsley on X

Tom Santos on X

Mike Levin on X

Republican narrative

DOGE worked. A government office with wasteful projects like the one that got million-dollar contracts to study groundwater in Africa was never going to reform itself. More than $3 billion in wasteful contracts got canceled, a small share of vacated jobs were refilled and fresh talent from outside government is an asset. With debt past $40 trillion, quibbling over line items misses the point.

The Wall Street Journal FEDweek

Editor's Note

This story currently has limited reporting from right-leaning sources. We will continue to monitor all major outlets and update our coverage as additional perspectives become available.