The Small Business Administration (SBA) was found to have awarded thousands of loans totaling hundreds of millions of dollars to persons who had an age indicated as 11 years old or less.

This news broke over the weekend and was reported by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), as Fox News reported.

DOGE's social media and later department head, Elon Musk, wrote a post that was published on the social media platform X about the huge sum handed out to minors.

According to the department, during the COVID-19 pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, the Small Business Administration (SBA) granted 5,593 loans totaling $312 million "to borrowers whose only listed owner was 11 years old or younger at the time of the loan."

From DOGE

“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 [a Social Security number] with the incorrect name,” the post reads.

The SBA and DOGE are currently conducting an investigation into the matter, as indicated in the post. The Epoch Times contacted the SBA for comment on March 9 but did not receive a response by publication time.

On March 8, DOGE also reported in a separate post that the SBA had issued 3,095 loans totaling $333 million to borrowers who were over the age of 115.

The recipients in question were listed as alive in the Social Security database. In one instance, an individual who is reportedly 157 years old received $36,000 in loans, including money from the Paycheck Protection Program and as an Economic Injury Disaster Loan.

More Findings

Additionally, on March 8, DOGE announced the cancellation of a Department of Agriculture contract valued at $10.3 million, which was intended to identify "unnecessary contracts." This contract was one of 162 that were terminated due to their non-essential nature.

DOGE has been conducting an exhaustive review of federal agency data since the commencement of the second Trump administration in order to identify areas of waste that can be eliminated in order to reduce costs.

However, the organization has encountered a number of lawsuits, some of which have raised concerns about the legality of DOGE and the role that Musk is playing.

A federal court was requested by a coalition of labor unions on March 7 to issue an emergency order that would prevent DOGE from accessing the Social Security data of millions of Americans.

Judge's Ruling

Democracy Forward, a legal services organization, filed a petition for emergency relief in federal court in Maryland against the Social Security Administration and its acting commissioner, Leland Dudek. The unions are requesting that the court prevent DOGE from accessing the extensive personal data collections that the agency maintains.

In a number of cases, judges have raised concerns regarding DOGE's extensive cost-cutting initiatives, which were implemented with minimal public disclosure regarding its personnel and operations.

However, justices have not consistently accepted that the alleged risks are sufficiently imminent to prevent DOGE from accessing government systems.

The Trump administration has generally stated that the objective is to eradicate excess and fraud within the government.