After claiming they uncovered nearly $400 million in fraudulent unemployment payments, Elon Musk’s DOGE has pointed to three Democrat-led states as the primary perpetrators.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) launched an urgent investigation into wasted taxpayer money – including reviewing unemployment insurance claims dating back to 2020 – following Donald Trump’s pledge to deliver major federal savings to voters.
Musk revealed that the agency found $382 million in deceitful unemployment claims, admitting he had to read the report multiple times before it truly ‘sank in’.
Now, the billionaire is pointing the finger at California, New York and Massachusetts, claiming they are responsible for receiving the bulk of the fraudulent funds – $305 million, to be exact, Fox News reported.
‘There’s a reason for the mass exodus from Democrat-run states that have mismanaged their economies and driven residents to the nearest Republican-led state,’ White House spokesperson Harrison Fields told the outlet.
‘High taxes, poor stewardship of taxpayer dollars and progressive policies continue to yield negative results, which is why Americans overwhelmingly support the work of DOGE.’
California bore a significant share of the misuse, as the agency said the West Coast state was responsible for a staggering 68 percent of unemployment benefits.
According to DOGE, these payments – some made to individuals on the terrorist watchlist or with criminal records – occurred during Joe Biden’s presidency.
The agency also revealed this week that it became ‘routine’ under the Biden administration to allow immigrants into the United States with minimal background checks.
More than 6,000 people – either with criminal records or listed on the FBI’s terrorist watchlist – were allowed into the country as a result, with hundreds of them exploiting the government’s unemployment program to collect benefits.
Nearly $42,000 was fraudulently collected from the unemployment program, alongside funds taken from federal student loan programs, food stamp assistance and IRS tax refunds.
‘This is another incredible discovery by the DOGE team, finding nearly $400 million in fraudulent unemployment payments,’ Labor Department Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer told Fox News.
‘The Labor Department is committed to recovering Americans’ stolen tax dollars. We will catch these thieves and keep working to root out egregious fraud,’ she added.
On Wednesday, DOGE revealed the results of an initial survey of unemployment insurance claims dating back to 2020, with the findings leaving Musk publicly shocked.
The study found at least 24,500 people over 115 years old claimed $59 million in benefits.
At least 28,000 individuals, all claiming to be under the age of five, received a whopping $254 million in benefits.
Meanwhile, DOGE also reported that 9,700 people with birthdates set more than 15 years into the future fraudulently claimed $69 million.
In one shocking case, the agency said they found someone with a birthday in 2154 who claimed $41,000 in benefits.
Musk shared the findings to his X account, claiming he was so stunned by the numbers, it took him multiple times to grasp the information in front of him.
‘Your tax dollars were going to pay fraudulent unemployment claims for fake people born in the future,’ Musk said. ‘This is so crazy that I had to read it several times before it sank in.’
On Thursday, the Tesla CEO also revealed just how much cash DOGE is expected to save US taxpayers at a Cabinet meeting before all the president’s deputies.
Sitting in the West Wing’s Cabinet Room, Musk announced that the agency is projected to save $150 billion in the 2026 fiscal year.
‘Thanks to your fantastic leadership, this amazing Cabinet and the very talented DOGE team, I’m excited to announce that we anticipate savings in FY 26 from reduction of waste and fraud by $150 billion,’ Musk proclaimed at the meeting.
Despite the mind-boggling amount projected to be saved in the next fiscal year, the figure falls significantly short of what the group initially aimed to cut from the federal payroll.
Originally, Musk set out to cut a whopping $2 trillion in waste, fraud and abuse.
He later walked that back, labeling it a ‘best-case outcome’, and said that he hopes to get half of that – around $1 trillion – which is still far more than what he set out to achieve.
According to the DOGE site, the group has already saved each taxpayer $931.
‘People ask me, like, well, how are you going to find waste, fraud and abuse in the federal in the government? I’m like, well, actually, just go in any direction,’ Musk told the Cabinet.
‘That’s how you find it. It’s very common. It’s, as military would say, a target rich environment.’
The SpaceX CEO also applauded the collaboration of each Cabinet member who he said helped his workers dig through each agency for savings.
He told the president the savings ‘will actually result in better services for the American people.’
In February, Musk shared staggering data showing there are millions of dead Americans still eligible for social security payments.
In a chart shared to X, the billionaire revealed that more than 20 million Americans listed over the age of 100 are still eligible – including 3.9 million in the 130-139 range, more than 3.5 million aged 140-149 and more than 1.3 million in the range 150-159.
There is even an ‘alive’ citizen aged over 360, according to the records.
‘According to the Social Security database, these are the numbers of people in each age bucket with the death field set to FALSE! Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security,’ Musk said.
The Department of Health and Human Services agency is under fire from Musk after records showed it had 60 million more individuals on file than the entire US population, suggesting that millions of dead or possibly fictitious people could be receiving monthly government checks.
In 2024, 68.5 million people received benefits from SSA through retirement, disability and other payments.
It remains unclear how many of these payments were distributed due to fraud or mistakes made by the agency failing to confirm the age and eligibility of beneficiaries – including if they are alive or not.
However, DOGE vowed it is now ‘looking into this’.