The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced another wave of contract terminations this weekend, revealing that over $300 million in loans were granted to children.
DOGE found that the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued nearly 5,600 loans totaling $312 million to borrowers whose only listed owner was 11 years old or younger at the time. These loans, distributed in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, have unclear purposes.
“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 stated. “DOGE and SBA are working together to solve this problem this week.”
As part of the announcement, DOGE pointed to a prior post on X revealing that in 2020 and 2021, the SBA also issued 3,095 loans worth $333 million to borrowers listed as over 115 years old. These individuals were still marked as alive in the Social Security database, including one case where a 157-year-old received $36,000 in loans. The funds were distributed through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program.
DOGE also canceled a $10.3 million Department of Agriculture contract that was, ironically, meant to identify unnecessary contracts. The agency said this was one of 162 nonessential contracts terminated, representing a total ceiling value of $205 million and estimated savings of $90 million. It did not specify which government sectors the remaining terminations impacted.
