While headlines have been locked on stock market swings and tariff wars, the Department of Government Efficiency has been busy digging through unemployment claims — and what they claim they uncovered sounds like something straight out of a science fiction script.
In a post shared on X, the department revealed the results of an initial audit of unemployment insurance claims filed since 2020. The alleged results are jaw-dropping:
- 24,500 people over the age of 115 collected $59 million in unemployment benefits
- 28,000 children between the ages of 1 and 5 received $254 million
- 9,700 individuals with birthdates more than 15 years into the future managed to claim $69 million
"In one case, someone with a birthday in 2154 claimed $41k," the department said
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The post quickly gained traction — and drew a response from Elon Musk, who commented on the findings. "Your tax dollars were going to pay fraudulent unemployment claims for fake people born in the future! This is so crazy that I had to read it several times before it sank in," he wrote on X.
As bizarre as it seems, the figures came directly from an official government account — not a parody, not a prank. According to the post, this was just an initial survey. The total fraud may be much higher once all states are fully reviewed.
The findings triggered an official response from Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who posted on X, calling it "another incredible discovery by the DOGE team."
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She continued:
"The Labor Department is committed to recovering Americans' stolen tax dollars. We will catch these thieves and keep working to root out egregious fraud — accountability is here."
The report alleges glaring gaps in how unemployment benefits were distributed during and after the COVID-era emergency measures — a period that saw unprecedented claims volume and overwhelmed systems. While some errors may have been due to misentered birthdates or identity theft, the department's alleged intentional fraud played a major role.
Lawmakers are already pushing for a deeper investigation. According to the New York Post, lawmakers, including Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), are calling for full-scale recovery efforts and tougher oversight.
For now, the message from DOGE is clear: if you're three years old, 130, or from the year 2154 — don't try to file for unemployment. They're watching.
And Musk says this is just one piece of the larger savings effort. On Thursday, he said DOGE is now projecting $150 billion in government spending cuts for the 2026 fiscal year — a major downgrade from his initial $1 trillion target for overhauling federal operations. The numbers may be shrinking, but Musk insists the mission to slash waste and fraud is still full speed ahead.
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