The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said its Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) resulted in approximately 154,000 voluntary resignations, according to a year-end release issued December 31, 2025. OPM’s current workforce dashboard separately shows 139,963 federal employees took the program and says more DRP actions may still be processed. OPM has not reconciled those two figures on the pages reviewed, so they should not be treated as a single, settled count.
What the federal buyout numbers mean
“Buyout” is common shorthand for the offer, but OPM called it the Deferred Resignation Program. The available figures differ in date, wording, and measurement:
| Figure | What it measures | Source and timing |
|---|---|---|
| Approximately 154,000 | Voluntary resignations OPM said resulted from DRP | OPM year-end release, December 31, 2025 |
| 139,963 | Federal employees the dashboard says “took” DRP; OPM says additional agency actions may still be processed | OPM Workforce Changes dashboard, current display accessed October 3, 2026 |
| About 144,312 | Employees in the agencies covered by GAO’s analysis with paid administrative leave reported for the program; this is an estimate based on provider data and assumptions, not a direct acceptance tally | Government Accountability Office, 2026 |
| About 75,000 | Acceptances reported as of the program’s closing day, not a later year-end total | Associated Press, February 12, 2025, citing an OPM spokesperson |
The counts are not interchangeable. OPM’s dashboard describes personnel actions documented through Standard Form 50 and notes that additional DRP actions are expected to be processed. GAO’s estimate instead uses paid administrative-leave records for agencies in its analysis. The sources do not establish an exact reconciliation between OPM’s approximately 154,000 and 139,963 figures; neither should be silently substituted for the other or averaged.
What the Deferred Resignation Program offered
OPM introduced the offer in an employee email on January 28, 2025. Employees who accepted could continue receiving pay and benefits while their resignation was deferred, generally until September 30, 2025, or an earlier date they selected. The offer also exempted participants from applicable in-person work requirements during that period, according to OPM’s original offer and FAQ.
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OPM’s FAQ said participants whose planned retirement date fell between October 1 and December 31, 2025 could have their deferred resignation date extended to that retirement date. The original offer was voluntary and excluded armed-forces military personnel, U.S. Postal Service employees, certain immigration-enforcement and national-security positions, and other positions specifically excluded by an employing agency.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.When the offer closed
OPM’s program page says the original program is closed. Resignations submitted after 7:20 p.m. Eastern Time on February 12, 2025 would not be accepted. The approximately 75,000 figure reported by the Associated Press that day was a contemporaneous closure-day snapshot; it predates both OPM’s year-end release and the current dashboard display.
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What is not established by the totals
- The sources do not give an agency-by-agency acceptance breakdown.
- OPM’s year-end release and dashboard do not explain why their reported totals differ.
- GAO’s leave-record estimate is limited to agencies in its analysis and uses data and assumptions; it is not a government-wide count of accepted offers.
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