2:58The U.S. Office of Personnel Management headquarters on December 21, 2024, in Washington, D.C.Michael A. McCoy/For The Washington Post via Getty Images
An administration official confirmed to ABC News that the federal government is compensating over 154,000 federal employees to not perform their duties as part of the deferred resignation initiative.
The revised count, initially reported by the Washington Post, encompasses thousands of government employees from numerous agencies who accepted buyout offers through June to retain their benefits and salaries until the fiscal year’s conclusion on September 30.
This accounts for slightly more than 6% of the 2.3 million federal civilian workforce.
Critics argue that the program has been managed poorly, causing disarray in government offices and affecting federal employees and operations indiscriminately, leading to multiple legal disputes between federal unions and the government — all at the taxpayers’ expense.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management headquarters on December 21, 2024, in Washington, D.C.Michael A. McCoy/For The Washington Post via Getty Images
"The American taxpayer is not only observing federal employees who are highly motivated to serve the public being sidelined, they are also funding their salaries. It makes absolutely no sense," stated Max Steier, the president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, to ABC News. "They have acted with ‘ready, fire, aim,’ rather than ‘ready, aim, fire.’ This undermines our government’s ability to fulfill its responsibilities."
Supporters of the program assert that it has been a creative approach to streamline the federal government, concentrating on established priorities and achieving long-term cost savings after this fiscal year.
"In the end, the deferred resignation program was not only lawful; it offered over 150,000 civil servants a dignified and generous exit from the federal government," remarked Office of Personnel Management spokesperson McLaurine Pinover to ABC News. "It also provided significant relief to the American taxpayer. No prior administration has come close to saving American taxpayers this significant sum of money in such a brief period."
Former President Bill Clinton initiated a campaign to reduce the federal workforce by over 300,000 positions, a process that took several years and required congressional backing.
The Office of Personnel Management was unable to provide ABC News with information on how much the government is expending on salaries and benefits for employees who are not working and are resigning — as well as the costs incurred by the government in legally defending the buyouts.
In a report released on Thursday, Senate Democrats estimated that the government has spent billions on employees who are on leave either voluntarily or involuntarily due to litigation — and that the entire Department of Government Efficiency cost-saving initiative led by Elon Musk has resulted in a $21.7 billion expenditure due to errors and inefficiencies.
The $21.7 billion figure cited by Democrats is an approximation that may include figures contested by the administration. It also encompasses an estimate for 200,000 employees enrolled in the buyout program, although the actual number stands at 154,000.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
