<div dir="ltr">Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription.<br><br>Federal Employees Were Paid $9.5 Billion Not to Work in 2025 Under DOGE Effort<br><br>As part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s program to shrink the federal work force, paid administrative leave costs rose by 435 percent.<br><br><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/15/us/politics/doge-federal-work-force.html?unlocked_article_code=1.CVE.KwVh.PqTtnVh45eec&smid=em-share">https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/15/us/politics/doge-federal-work-force.html?unlocked_article_code=1.CVE.KwVh.PqTtnVh45eec&smid=em-share</a></div>