DOGE Says It Found $312 Million in Loans That Were Given to Children During Pandemic

About 5,600 loans worth $312 million went ’to borrowers whose only listed owner was 11 years old or younger at the time of the loan,' DOGE said.

Elon Musk in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 11, 2025. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) said over the weekend that it found that the Small Business Administration (SBA) granted thousands of loans worth hundreds of millions of dollars to individuals who had an age listed as 11 years old or younger.

In a post on social media platform X on March 8 that was reposted by Elon Musk, who leads the department, DOGE wrote that in the COVID-19 pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, the SBA granted 5,593 loans worth $312 million “to borrowers whose only listed owner was 11 years old or younger at the time of the loan.”