The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has announced that the Small Business Administration (SBA) will now require the collection of dates of birth for all direct loan applications. The process will be paused for applicants under 18 or over 120 years old. This announcement was made on March 23.
In its statement, DOGE described these new requirements as basic "sanity checks" and the initial steps toward reducing significant fraud in government payment programs.
According to DOGE, between 2020 and 2021, the SBA issued 3,095 loans, including those from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), totaling $333 million. These loans were granted to borrowers over 115 years old who were still listed as alive in the Social Security database. In one notable case, a 157-year-old individual received $36,000 in loan funds.
Elon Musk talking into microphone
| https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elon_Musk_(12270807823).jpg
Elon Musk posted an image on X revealing data from the Social Security database. The data shows age ranges and the number of people receiving Social Security benefits. It includes 3,542,044 individuals aged 140 to 149, 1,345,083 recipients aged 150 to 159, and 121,807 individuals aged 160 to 169 collecting benefits. In the age range of 170 to 179 years old, there are reportedly 6,087 beneficiaries. Notably, one individual mentioned in Musk's post is still collecting Social Security at an age between 360 and 369.
DOGE is a federal agency focused on optimizing government spending by reducing waste and ensuring accountability in contract management. By reviewing expenditures and canceling non-essential contracts, DOGE aims to improve fiscal responsibility and enhance the effectiveness of public resource allocation.
