On Saturday, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced another round of contract cancellations in an effort to save money. In the process, it was able to reveal that over $300 million in loans had been granted to American children during the Chinese Coronavirus pandemic.
As Fox News reports, the presidential advisory group, led by Elon Musk, reported that the Small Business Administration (SBA) had granted almost 5,600 loans in 2020 and 2021, amounting to $312 million, to borrowers who listed their ages as being 11 or younger.
“While it is possible to have business arrangements where this is legal, that is highly unlikely for these 5,593 loans, as they all also used an SSN with the incorrect name,” the agency wrote in a post on X. “@DOGE and @SBAgov are working together to solve this problem this week.”
Similarly, DOGE also uncovered $333 million in SBA loans that went to borrowers who claimed to be over 115 years old, with 3,095 loans being issued in 2020 and 2021. These were allowed to be handed out due to the borrowers all being listed as still alive in the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) database.
In his first address to a joint session of Congress as the 47th President, President Donald Trump listed the numerous examples of the SSA providing payments to individuals who are at impossible ages, including one person who was identified as being 360 years old.
“I know some people who are rather elderly but not quite that elderly,” President Trump joked. “3.47 million people from ages 120 to 129. 3.9 million people from ages 130 to 139. 3.5 million people from ages 140 to 149. And money is being paid to many of them, and we are searching right now.”
DOGE and Musk have been tasked with slashing wasteful government spending, firing federal employees whose jobs are determined to be redundant or useless, and even abolishing entire agencies that are ultimately considered unnecessary. The agency has vowed to finish its work by July 4, 2026, in time for the nation’s 250th birthday. In a meeting with Republican lawmakers on Wednesday, Musk reaffirmed his confidence in DOGE’s ability to save as much as $1 trillion in government spending.