Federal Workers Got Paid Billions Not to Work Thanks to DOGE

The federal government paid employees $9.5 billion not to work in 2025 as a result of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

The New York Times, citing a new estimate from the Government Accountability Office, reports that DOGE’s deferred resignations program increased paid administrative leave by 435 percent in 2025. That’s an increase of over six times since 2023.

President Trump and Musk’s efforts have shrunk the federal workforce by 12 percent since the inauguration in January last year, but that has not translated into any savings. The Trump administration claims that the government has saved over $200 billion, but that has never been proven, and the federal deficit has only shot up thanks to the Iran war and Republican tax cuts passed last year.

Of the $9.5 billion figure, $6.7 billion was spent on DOGE’s deferred resignation offer, which about 139,963 federal employees took, resulting in several government departments losing their most experienced personnel. Many departments later scrambled to restaff those positions: The Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit organization, found that over 20,000 federal jobs vacated by the resignation program have been backfilled. The federal government has also tried to recruit new employees to fill the void, focusing on early-career workers.

“Trump spent billions to push out experienced and badly needed experts across government — this was the most expensive way imaginable to make government worse,” said Democratic Senator Patty Murray in a statement Tuesday.

DOGE was supposed to reduce the size of the federal government and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse, with Musk promising $1 trillion in savings. Instead, the entire program appears to be a massive example of setting taxpayer dollars on fire.

The Trump administration has a lot of things “visitors should know” before entering the National Museum of American History.

According to reporting by The Atlantic, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is mobilizing the National Park Service to display at least a dozen signs around the National Museum of American History warning visitors of “ideologies that distract from a coherent and accurate presentation of America’s story” before they step foot on the premises. The signs are projected to cost at least $84,000.

This is the Trump administration’s latest attack on the Smithsonian, a cultural institution that has stood witness to the American story for 180 years. It comes after the September 8 announcement that Lonnie G. Bunch III, the Smithsonian’s chief official and founder of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, will retire at the end of this year. Bunch has said that the repeated attacks from the Trump administration and pressure to eliminate exhibits representing “improper ideology,” such as anything to do with race, gender, or oppression, did not influence his decision.

In June, Donald Trump signed an executive order giving his administration unprecedented control over the institution, which he claimed “views American history as a ‘prime tool’ to advance ideas of social justice and the radical transformation of our society.”

The White House Domestic Policy Council elaborated on Trump’s claims in an Independence Day report on the status of the institution. “The Smithsonian Institution, and the National Museum of American History in particular, under its current leadership and current interpretive ideology, cannot be trusted to tell America’s story honestly and in a way that is inspiring, unifying, and worthy of our great republic,” the report said.

When he announced the signs to Senators Jeff Merkley and Lisa Murkowski, Burgum said that the “informational signage therefore will provide visitors with important context about the exhibits they are about to encounter and the personal viewpoints that the curators of the exhibits are seeking to advance.”

“We believe the public should enter the museum fully equipped with the information needed to evaluate whether to invest their time in viewing these exhibits and programming,” he wrote in a letter to the senators.

It is not yet clear what exactly the “information needed” will be. The text of the signs or the plans for their physical structure is still undetermined, but Burgam’s letter suggests direct attacks on Smithsonian leaders, including Bunch and museum director Anthea Hartig.

Trump’s attacks on the Smithsonian are a textbook example of an administration using its power to manipulate how citizens encounter history and discredit institutions that challenge its preferred narrative—a stepping stone, of course, toward fascism.

The European Union has offered Canada an associate membership, a move that underscores eroding relations with the United States caused directly by President Trump’s spiteful trade war and general disrespect. 

“We must urgently reimagine our partnerships.… I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to be the first associate member of the European Union,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday. 

Von der Leyen emphasized that the invitation was “not a partnership against anyone else, but for our common strength.” And yet Trump’s trade war on Canada—alongside his deranged threats to take over the country and make it the fifty-first state—is only growing in its unpopularity. On top of that, Trump’s reduced support for NATO and Ukraine  has alienated most of the EU, while his erratic trade war has only made things worse. 

“It’s not just Europe backing away from the United States. Leaders of America’s partners in Asia and the Middle East are quietly doing the same,” Jon Finer, former deputy national security adviser under President Biden, told The New York Times. “The second Trump administration’s ostentatious corruption, trade conflicts, military adventurism and mercurial artificial intelligence regulation have produced a new moment in international affairs: a nearly global grand strategy of countries distancing themselves from the world’s most powerful nation.” 

While it’s unclear what exactly Canada’s potential membership would look like, it’s obvious that Canada is looking elsewhere as its relationship with its strongest ally flounders. 

“You’re very welcome in this house, and I hope you’re already feeling comfortable amongst the member states sitting here,” German politician Terry Reintke told Carney on Wednesday. “Because we hope to see you there very often in the future.”

House Democrats launched another Hail Mary bid to impeach President Donald Trump, but the effort was undercut by members of their own party.

More than a dozen Democrats joined 213 Republicans in voting “no” Tuesday night. Another 46 Democrats simply voted “present,” including some of the lower chamber’s biggest names: Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark, and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar.

It was the third time in two years that the liberal party has tried to oust Trump from the Oval Office, but the proposal—introduced by Texas Representative Al Green—did not receive support from party leadership before Green forced the vote. One Democrat described the situation to Axios as “fucked up,” while others derided the effort as a distraction, with the spectre of midterms mere weeks away.

“Impeachment is a sacred constitutional vehicle designed to hold a corrupt executive accountable for abuse of power, breaking the law and violating the public trust,” Jeffries, Clark, and Aguilar wrote in a joint statement Monday. “The effort traditionally requires a comprehensive investigative process.”

Green, who cited the various deaths caused by federal immigration agents as his rationale for impeachment, described the vote as a “life and death” matter. He initially filed the articles in August.

Eighteen Democrats ultimately voted against impeaching Trump. They are:

1. Kathy Castor (Florida)
2. Emanuel Cleaver (Missouri)
3. James Clyburn (South Carolina)
4. Henry Cuellar (Texas)
5. Don Davis (North Carolina)
6. Shomari Figures (Alabama)
7. Laura Gillen (New York)
8. Jared Golden (Maine)
9. Adam Gray (California)
10. Rick Larsen (Washington)
11. Susie Lee (Nevada)
12. Kristen McDonald Rivet (Michigan)
13. Jared Moskowitz (Florida)
14. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Washington)
15. Josh Riley (New York)
16. Hillary Scholten (Michigan)
17. Darren Soto (Florida)
18. Tom Suozzi (New York)

For the third time, the House of Representatives said “no” to President Donald Trump’s war with Iran. Seven Republicans voted with Democrats to end the conflict.

The Tuesday night vote, which will probably be the last antiwar resolution before the midterm elections in November, passed 220–204, with eight Republicans and one Democrat not voting.

Three Republicans voted against the war for the first time: Representatives Nancy Mace, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and Zach Nunn. They joined Tom Barrett, Brian Fitzpatrick, Warren Davidson, and Thomas Massie, who voted for the previous resolutions opposing the war.

“I will not support another open-ended war. We can defend Americans, pressure Iran, and pursue peace while ensuring Congress fulfills its constitutional responsibility,” Nunn said in a post on X.

Later this week, Democrats will attempt to pass the resolution in the Senate. The last time they tried in June, Trump showed up on Capitol Hill and yelled at Republican Senator Bill Cassidy for breaking ranks and voting to end the war. Cassidy ended up flip-flopping, changing his vote, and sinking the resolution.

This time, with the midterms less than two months away, will Senate Republicans try to take a stand? Trump and the GOP are historically unpopular, with the expensive war sending gas prices skyrocketing and continuing to damage the global economy. Congress has the constitutional authority to end the war and bring relief to the American people. Do Republicans have the courage?