Officials from the Trump administration have promised to claw back tax money stolen by blue states after the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) caught the blue states that had collected almost $400 million in fraudulent unemployment payments. Representatives from the Department of Labor (DOL) and the White House gave explosive statements, which put the three Democratic-controlled states on notice.

For context, DOGE was established during one of Trump’s earliest executive orders and charged with fighting fraud, waste, and corruption in the federal government. In just a few months, the agency, led by tech genius Elon Musk, has exposed massive fraud rings and saved the taxpayer hundreds of billions of dollars.

In any case, Labor Department Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer exposed the scale of the corruption in an April 14, 2025, cabinet meeting. She revealed, “This is another incredible discovery by the DOGE team, finding nearly $400 million in fraudulent unemployment payments. The Labor Department is committed to recovering Americans’ stolen tax dollars. We will catch these thieves and keep working to root out egregious fraud.”

Digging into the details, Lori Chavez-DeRemer went into the specifics of this fraud. She explained, “In the numbers that we saw last night, again exposed by our partners in at DOGE at the Department of Labor, since 2020 over $400 million of payments have gone out already,” adding, “And when you hear these numbers, apparently, in the United States, we have over almost 25,000 people who are over 115 years old, who are collecting $59 million that we have sent out to people talk about fraudulent behavior.”

Using a specific example to bolster her argument, Labor Department Secretary said, “In one case, they will be born 129 years from now, the United States government sent them $41,000, and they’re not born yet. So, under the Department of Labor. Those are the things that we’re uncovering. I couldn’t be more honored to tell the American people that we’re bringing back their dollars and we’re saving them and returning them to the United States Treasury.”

Adding another perspective on the scandal, White House spokesperson Harrison Fields blasted these deep blue states. He said, “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,” adding “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.”

Kicking off the controversy, DOGE announced their findings on X, formerly Twitter. The department wrote, “An initial survey of Unemployment Insurance claims since 2020 revealed the following: – 24.5k people over 115 years old claimed $59M in benefits – 28k people between 1 and 5 years old claimed $254M in benefits – 9.7k people with birth dates over 15 years in the future claimed $69M in benefits In one case, someone with a birthday in 2154 claimed $41k.”