A government review has exposed shocking failures in the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) pandemic relief programs, with loans worth hundreds of millions of dollars granted to ineligible recipients. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced that over 5,500 loans—totaling $312 million—were approved for borrowers under 12 years old.
Each of these loans, issued in 2020 and 2021, had incorrect Social Security numbers that did not match the listed applicants. While certain business structures could legally involve minors, DOGE officials stated that the scale of these irregularities suggests widespread fraud.
The investigation also found that 3,095 loans were granted to individuals supposedly 115 years or older, amounting to an additional $333 million in funds. One of the most glaring cases involved a person recorded as 157 years old receiving $36,000. Many of these loan recipients remained active in federal records, raising questions about the integrity of government databases.
President Donald Trump criticized the mismanagement of federal funds during a speech to Congress, highlighting millions of individuals listed as over 120 years old still appearing in Social Security records. He vowed to stop the abuse of taxpayer dollars and eliminate unnecessary government waste.
Elon Musk, leading the DOGE effort to crack down on government fraud, met with House Republicans to discuss recovering up to $1 trillion in wasteful spending. Lawmakers familiar with the meeting reported that Musk’s team is taking an aggressive approach to identifying fraud and inefficiencies.
Meanwhile, DOGE canceled a $10.3 million Department of Agriculture contract that was meant to review wasteful spending but was itself found to be unnecessary.
