DOGE says $312M in loans were given to children during COVID pandemic

 

'@DOGE and @SBAgov are working together to solve this problem this week'

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) made an additional round of contract cancellations late Saturday, adding that they also found thousands of instances involving over $300 million in loans issued to children.

The announcements come amid the Elon Musk-led agency's ongoing efforts to eliminate waste, fraud and corruption within the federal government.

DOGE reported that it found the Small Business Administration (SBA) made almost 5,600 loans worth $312 million to borrowers whose sole listed owner was 11 years old or younger when the loan was made. The loans were made in 2020 and 2021 – during the time the world was grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic – and it is not known what they were spent on.

"Although it is conceivable that there are business arrangements under which this is permissible, that is extremely unlikely for these 5,593 loans since they also utilized an SSN with the wrong name," the agency stated.

"@DOGE and @SBAgov are cooperating to fix this issue this week," they added.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said it identified thousands of cases where $312 million worth of loans were issued to children aged 11 and younger. (Getty Images)

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As it made the announcement, DOGE posted on Tuesday a copy of a post on X that stated that during 2020 and 2021 the SBA made 3,095 loans totaling $333 million to borrowers aged over 115.

The lenders were not flagged as dead in the Social Security database. In one instance, a 157-year-old person was issued $36,000 worth of loans, according to the agency. The loans were PPP and EIDL loans.

In his speech before Congress on Tuesday, President Donald Trump denounced cases where he claimed millions of individuals over 100 years old were recorded in the Social Security database, one of them being as old as 360 years of age.

"I know a few people who are fairly old but not quite that old," Trump stated. "3.47 million individuals age 120-129. 3.9 million individuals age 130-139. 3.5 million individuals age 140-149. And money is being paid to a lot of them, and we are looking right now."

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk sit down for a "Hannity" exclusive interview. Musk is heading up the DOGE effort to cut wasteful spending. (Fox News)

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DOGE also reported canceling one contract of the Department of Agriculture that was worth $10.3 million, stating it was "ironically" started for "identifying unnecessary contracts."

The cost-cutting agency announced the cancellation was among 162 non-essential contracts it canceled with a total ceiling value of $205 million and savings of $90 million. The agency did not indicate what areas of the federal government the rest of the contract cancellations were in.

In President Donald Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday, he bashed instances where he said millions of centenarians were listed on the Social Security database, with one being as old as 360 years of age. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

In the meantime, Musk had a small group of House Republicans over to dinner on Wednesday night to talk about the mission to locate up to $1 trillion in government wastage, sources briefed on the discussion shared with Fox News Digital.