The U.S. Department of Government Efficiency released shocking findings on Sunday that the Biden-Harris administration had awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in government contracts to an unexpected group: children.
An agency announcement revealed that the Small Business Administration disbursed $312 million in payments to companies whose purported owners are under the age of 11. This disclosure comes as DOGE works to root out waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending.
“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 wrote. “@DOGE and @SBAgov are working together to solve this problem this week.”
During the announcement, DOGE also disclosed that an additional $333 million was distributed in 3,095 loans between 2021 and 2022 to businesses owned by individuals aged 115 or older.
In one case highlighted by Fox News, a 157-year-old business owner received a total of $36,000 in grants, including funds from the pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan, which were designed to help businesses survive shutdowns.
In cases involving businesses allegedly owned by children, Biden administrators approved nearly 5,600 such loans between 2020 and 2021—almost all of which were forgiven without repayment after the owners pledged to use the funds to avoid staff layoffs.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk, President Donald Trump’s cost-cutting advisor, met with House Republicans last Wednesday to discuss his aim of eliminating $1 trillion in government waste, according to sources. Several GOP members have voiced doubts about the pace and accuracy of some of these cuts when facing frustrated constituents at local town halls, though some of those same lawmakers have speculated that many ‘protestors’ are not really constituents but paid actors.
Amid growing pressure from his party to limit spending cuts, Trump appeared to curtail Musk’s influence last week by directing his Cabinet members to use their discretion in managing their departments, guided by recommendations from Musk and DOGE. In response, Musk has intensified his efforts to justify the need for layoffs and contract cancellations while quickly rehiring employees who were later deemed essential.
