New York Ranks Among The Nation’s Biggest Offenders of Unemployment Insurance Abuse

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), created by President Donald Trump and spearheaded by businessman Elon Musk, has been a polarizing initiative within the first 100 days of this Trump term.

One of the more recent findings of waste, fraud and abuse within our government, according to DOGE, comes from Unemployment Insurance Claims since 2020. If this report is accurate, New York State ranks among the top 3 States for fraudulent claims.

Get our free mobile app

On April 9, 2025 DOGE gave an update on their initial survey of Unemployment Insurance claims since 2020. Here is some of what they found:

• 24,500 people over 115-years-old claimed $59 million in benefits
• 28,000 people between 1 and 5-years-old claimed $254 million in benefits
• 9,700 people with birth dates over 15 years in the future claimed $69 million in benefits
• In one case, someone with a birthday in 2154 claimed $41,000 in benefits

It has been stated that the goal of DOGE is to cut $1 trillion from the federal budget. To date approximately $130 billion has been reportedly saved.

The Labor Department is committed to recovering Americans’ stolen tax dollars. We will catch these thieves and keep working to root out egregious fraud. - Labor Department Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer