The Swamp Got Bigger, Better Paid & More Secretive Since 2020
15th November 2025
If you were told a business increased their staff headcount by 5% over four years but its payroll rose 24% over that time, all the while withholding the names of 39% of their staff, would you invest in that company?
Depends. What’s the dividend rate of return?
Unlikely. But that’s just what the United State government does, funded by taxpayer dollars and operating as if accountable to no one.
Open the Books analyzed the FY 2024 payroll records of executive agencies and found that 2.9 million federal employees were paid $270 billion, compared to 2.8 million employees paid $217 billion in FY 2020. While the civilian employee ranks grew 5%, pay grew nearly 5 times as much, 24%.