Children Got $312m Loans Meant For Small Businesses During COVID-19 — DOGE
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) revealed on Sunday that over $300m in COVID-19 relief loans were granted to children.
The department headed by tech billionaire, Elon Musk, disclosed that the Small Business Administration (SBA) approved nearly 5,600 loans, totaling $312m, to borrowers who were listed as 11 years old or younger at the time.
The loans were distributed in 2020 and 2021, at the height of the pandemic, but it remains unclear how the funds were used.
“While certain legal business structures might allow for such arrangements, it is highly unlikely in these 5,593 cases,” DOGE stated.
“Each loan application also contained an incorrect Social Security number,” they added, assuring the public that it is working alongside the SBA to resolve the issue.
The DOGE had announced last week that it found that between 2020 and 2021, the SBA approved 3,095 loans, amounting to $333m to individuals over 115 years old, including a 157-year-old recipient who received $36,000 in relief loans.
The agency found that many of these borrowers were still listed as alive in the Social Security database, despite their extreme ages.
During his state of the nation address to the US Congress on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump criticised the social security system, noting massive fraud uncovered by DOGE.
“I know some elderly people, but not quite that elderly. We’re talking about 3.47 million people aged 120 to 129, 3.9 million aged 130 to 139, and 3.5 million aged 140 to 149—still receiving benefits. In fact, one individual was listed as 360 years old,” Trump said
Trump’s remarks came as Musk and his team at DOGE ramped up efforts to track down as much as $1trn in government waste.
In addition to exposing fraudulent loans, DOGE announced the cancellation of a $10.3m Department of Agriculture contract, ironically intended to identify wasteful contracts.
The termination was part of a larger effort that saw 162 unnecessary federal contracts canceled, saving taxpayers an estimated $90m.
DOGE did not disclose the specific agencies impacted by the remaining contract cancellations.
Asides social security, the department has been active in recovering waste in other federal agencies including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Children Got $312m Loans Meant For Small Businesses During COVID-19 — DOGE is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
