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Today at a Glance

• Paid Leave Report: GAO reported Tuesday that agencies spent about $9.5 billion in salary on paid administrative leave in 2025, roughly $6.7 billion of it for employees waiting out the deferred resignation program, and found OPM's payroll data cannot isolate that leave.

• Discipline Rule Reopened: OPM has reopened comments on its July proposed rule rewriting PIPs, adverse-action procedures, and settlements, through September 29, and published the discipline numbers it says support the change.

• USDA Stay Signed: The judge in the unions' USDA relocation case signed the administrative stay on September 14, freezing reassignment deadlines through October 2 for eight named components and barring removals or AWOL charges for declining to move.

Top Stories:

1. GAO: Paid Administrative Leave Hit $9.5 Billion Last Year, Mostly for Deferred Resignations — Here Is What the Leave Law Actually Limits

Source: Government Executive, September 15, 2026

TL;DR: The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported Tuesday that federal agencies spent about $9.5 billion in salary on paid administrative leave in calendar year 2025, a sixfold increase from 2023, and that about $6.7 billion of that went to employees who accepted the deferred resignation program (DRP) and were kept on paid leave until they separated. GAO analyzed payroll data from 76 agencies covering roughly 95 percent of the civilian workforce and found leave use rose 435 percent, from about 4 million workdays in 2023 to about 21.6 million in 2025; almost 100,000 employees took more than 90 workdays of paid administrative leave last year, compared with fewer than 600 in each of the two prior years. GAO estimates about 144,312 employees used the leave under the DRP. The report also found data problems that could overstate the totals, including agencies recording holiday time off as administrative leave, and it found that OPM cannot separate workforce-reduction leave from other administrative leave in its payroll system, so the program's true cost, and its net savings, cannot be measured precisely. OPM agreed with both GAO recommendations: disclose the remaining data problems and create a separate payroll category for workforce-reduction leave. OPM Director Scott Kupor wrote in response that the leave costs "were incurred once" while the savings "recur every year," and that OPM expects the program to save more than $20 billion annually.

For federal employees, this means:

• If you separated under the DRP, this report does not change your separation or the pay you received. OPM itself wrote in its June proposed rule that there is no authority to require repayment of administrative leave once it has been provided.
• If your agency offers a new deferred-resignation or early-out package, read the leave terms closely. According to GAO, OPM's July 2025 template encouraged a 12-week cap on workforce-reduction leave starting in 2026, while its December 2025 guidance for agency-specific programs allowed up to six months.
• If you are placed on administrative leave while your agency investigates you, that leave is capped at 10 workdays per calendar year. After that, the agency must use investigative leave under 5 U.S.C. § 6329b, which requires a written explanation and runs in periods of up to 30 workdays; extensions are ordinarily capped at 90 more, and anything beyond that must be reported to Congress. Keep your own record of the dates and the reason you were given.

Legal Insight

The Administrative Leave Act of 2016, 5 U.S.C. § 6329a(b)(1), provides that "[d]uring any calendar year, an agency may place an employee in administrative leave for a period of not more than a total of 10 work days," and Congress declared in the same law that administrative leave "should be used sparingly." OPM's implementing regulation reads that cap as applying only when management "places" an employee on leave to conduct an investigation, and it states that "[t]he 10-workday annual limit does not apply to administrative leave for other purposes." 5 C.F.R. § 630.1404(a). Under OPM's February 2025 guidance, DRP leave was reported as general-purpose administrative leave, and GAO's report does not address whether the statutory cap applied to the program. OPM's June 29 proposed rule, 91 Fed. Reg. 39032, would add extended leave for deferred resignations to the list of acceptable uses; comments closed July 29, and the rule is not yet final.

2. OPM Reopens Comments on Its Firing-Procedures Rule Through September 29 — and Publishes the Discipline Numbers It Says Justify It

Source: Federal Register, September 15, 2026

TL;DR: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on Tuesday reopened the public comment period on its July 2 proposed rule, "Promoting Employee Accountability," through September 29, 2026; the original period closed August 3. OPM published payroll-system data showing agencies took 3,105 separation and termination actions for performance or conduct in fiscal 2026 through June, compared with 3,492 in all of fiscal 2025 and between 2,098 and 2,732 in each of fiscal years 2019 through 2024 (the figures exclude the Postal Service and the intelligence agencies, among others). OPM wrote that "the Federal Government has not seen significant increases in performance-based and adverse actions in Fiscal Year 2026" and that it "views this data as support for making structural changes necessary to appropriately incentivize supervisors to take necessary action to address poor performance and misconduct." OPM also invited comment on an August 27 report by the organization We the Doers, "Fast but Fair Federal Firing." The reopened period is narrow: OPM says it will consider only comments that address the new data and the report, and it will not consider late filings. The MSPB has already finalized its portion of the joint rule, the penalty standard that replaces mandatory Douglas-factor review, effective October 5; OPM's portions covering PIPs, adverse-action procedures, settlements, and supervisor training remain proposed.

For federal employees, this means:

• The OPM provisions still on the table would cap performance improvement periods at 30 calendar days, bar informal "pre-PIP" assistance periods, make removal the default proposed penalty for unacceptable performance, and prohibit settlement agreements that remove documented performance or conduct problems from personnel files. This is the last scheduled window to comment, and only comments tied to the new data or the report will count.
• Read the table OPM published before you write. It breaks actions out by personnel-action code and reports the "ZLM" code separately because those actions "may or may not fall within the scope of the proposed rule." A comment that engages the numbers is the kind OPM has said it will consider.
• Watch two dates: September 29, when comments close, and October 5, when the MSPB's new penalty standard applies to appeals filed on or after that date. If you are facing a proposed action now, the current rules, not the proposed ones, govern your case.

Legal Insight

Performance-based removals and demotions proceed under 5 U.S.C. § 4303, after the opportunity to demonstrate acceptable performance required by § 4302(c)(6), and misconduct-based adverse actions proceed under 5 U.S.C. § 7513, which guarantees at least 30 days' advance written notice, a reasonable time to reply, a written decision, and an appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board. Reopening the record under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 553, is how OPM puts the new data before the public before it finalizes. Nothing about the reopening changes an employee's rights today; the current regulations in 5 C.F.R. parts 432 and 752 still control. If you are in a PIP or have received a proposed action, consult a federal employment attorney or your union representative about the deadlines that apply to you now.

3. The USDA Relocation Stay Is Signed: Reassignment Deadlines Frozen Through October 2 for Eight Components — Here Is Who Is Covered

Source: Federal News Network, September 15, 2026

TL;DR: U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria signed an administrative stay order on Monday, September 14, in the unions' lawsuit challenging the Agriculture Department's reorganization, freezing the deadlines in the department's "management directed reassignment" (MDR) letters through October 2, 2026. The order stays the deadlines in all MDR letters and related reassignment or relocation directives issued to employees in the listed components, including report dates and accept-or-decline dates, and it bars USDA from "proceeding with any termination, separation, or other disciplinary proceeding against an employee, or placing an employee on Absent Without Leave status, based on the employee's decision to decline reassignment, not to respond to a notice of reassignment, or not to relocate." The stay applies only to eight named components: the Food and Nutrition Administration (as the order words it), the Research, Education, and Economics mission area, the Forest Service, the Foreign Agricultural Service, the Rural Development mission area, the Farm Production and Conservation mission area, the Office of the General Counsel, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights. It does not apply to moves from one National Capital Region location to another. The signed order uses the language the unions proposed, not the government's narrower version, which would have reached only the September 21 deadlines and reassignments outside an employee's commuting area. Government Executive has reported that the next hearing is set for September 29.

For federal employees, this means:

• If you hold an MDR letter in one of the eight listed components, your report-by and accept-or-decline deadlines are paused through October 2. Keep the letter and every email that moves your dates, and do not read the pause as a ruling on the merits; the order says it exists to preserve the status quo while the judge considers the preliminary-injunction motion.
• If your component is not on the list, the stay's terms do not reach you. The order does not name the Food Safety and Inspection Service, for example, even though Government Executive reported earlier this month that it was among the components that received relocation notices. Confirm your coverage with your union or representative before any deadline passes.
• The stay ends October 2 unless the judge extends it. If it lapses, declining a relocation outside the commuting area can lead to removal under 5 U.S.C. chapter 75, with the notice, reply, and MSPB appeal rights that come with it, and possibly to discontinued service retirement or severance depending on age and service.

Legal Insight

A directed reassignment outside the commuting area is a management action, but a separation for declining one is an adverse action under 5 U.S.C. § 7513, which requires 30 days' advance written notice, a chance to reply, a written decision, and a right of appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board. OPM's regulations treat such a separation as involuntary for severance-pay purposes when the employee's position description or other written agreement does not provide for the reassignment, 5 C.F.R. § 550.703, and an employee separated involuntarily may qualify for discontinued service retirement under 5 U.S.C. § 8414(b)(1)(A) if the age and service requirements are met. The stay pauses deadlines; it does not decide the merits. If you have an MDR letter, consult a federal employment attorney or your union representative now about how the October 2 date and your component's coverage affect your options.

Legal Tip of the Day

When You Receive Counseling or a Written Warning

A counseling memo or written warning may be described as informal, but it can still become part of a larger record. These documents may later be used to support a lower rating, PIP, suspension, removal, or claim that you were warned before. Save the document, identify inaccuracies, gather emails or records that provide context, and consider whether a calm written response should be added to the file. Do not ignore it because it is “not discipline,” and do not respond with sarcasm or anger. 

In Case You Missed It

A few quick hits from our recent posts:

Supreme Court Keeps USPS Mail-Ballot Rules Blocked: Why Federal Employees Should Still Vote Early

“You Won’t Be Personally Liable”: What the DHS Whistleblower Disclosure Means for Federal Employees Given a Questionable Order

Thinking About Federal Disability Retirement?

If your medical conditions make it hard to safely or consistently perform your federal job—even with accommodations—it may be time to explore OPM/FERS disability retirement.

We help federal employees:

• Decide whether disability retirement is the right path compared to accommodation or reassignment

• Gather and frame medical evidence so it speaks the language OPM expects

• Prepare and submit disability retirement applications and related documentation

• Coordinate strategy when disability retirement interacts with pending discipline, EEO complaints, or MSPB appeals

For most disability retirement matters, we offer full‑service application assistance for a flat fee of $5,000, plus any required costs. In a free consultation, we’ll talk through your health limitations, job duties, and timelines so you understand your options before you commit.

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Disclaimer:

This briefing is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney‑client relationship. Federal employment law is fact‑specific and time‑sensitive; you should consult a qualified attorney about your own situation and deadlines. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

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