FROM WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Federal payroll costs ballooned from $217 billion during fiscal 2020 to $270 billion by the end of fiscal 2024, a new report published by Open The Books has found.
For the federal government, fiscal 2020 began in October 2019 and fiscal 2024 ended in September 2024, covering almost the entirety of the Biden administration.
The 24% increase in salary payments corresponded to just a 5% increase in headcount, according to the report. Such a gap is explained by a surge in well-paid roles within the federal bureaucracy. By the end of fiscal 2024, the number of employees earning $200,000 or more had increased to 68,445, representing a gain of 82% since fiscal 2020. The number of federal workers earning over $100,000 and more than $300,000 increased by 49% and 84%, respectively, over the same period.
The $270 billion federal payroll understates the actual cost of bureaucracy, with OpenTheBooks estimating that employee benefits add another 30%.
OpenTheBooks also found that the names of 383,000 workers across 56 agencies were redacted from federal records. Additionally, the Office of Personnel Management refused to release payroll data for intelligence agencies, the State Department, the IRS, the National Nuclear Security Administration, and the Bureau of Prisons, citing national security.
The information listed is from Washington Examiner.
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