Doge

Did the claim that DOGE forwarded the names of 163 members of Congress to the IRS for "Immediate Audit" and that 156 of them were Democrats originate on an actual news website? No, that's not true: The meme featured a fake, cartoonish DOGE logo and came from a satirical Facebook page. The owner of the page is known for tricking…

Has the DOGE team caused a "very real exodus" from the Washington, D.C., area as evidenced by a big surge in the number of homes listed for sale in the market? No, that's not true: The number of new residential real estate listings in the market in the first two weeks of February 2025 is almost exactly the same as…

Is there such a thing as a "Treasury Access Symbol" (TAS) as a post from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on X said? No, that's not true: The post contained a typo and the document it linked to refers to something called a "Treasury Account Symbol" (TAS). Google shows no use of the term "Treasury Access Symbol" before the…

Did the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives just discover $2.7 trillion in improper payments in Medicare and Medicaid overseas? No, that's not true: The report of trillions of dollars in improper payments, which accumulated since 2003, was published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office in the first half of 2024 -- this was…

Does Jasmine Crockett, a U.S. congresswoman from Texas, have a net worth of $9 million and own properties worth $5 million? No, that's not true: Her latest financial disclosure report shows that her net worth is somewhere between -$46,997 and $29,999. Crockett said that a post claiming she was worth millions was "a lie", describing the story as "outlandish." The…

Did the Trump State Department come up with the idea to order $400 million worth of armored Tesla vehicles? No, that's not true: The original proposal to buy armored electric vehicles for the State Department came during the Biden administration in April 2024. The $400 million line item was included in a State Department Procurement Forecast Fiscal Year 2025 in…

Did the U.S. government pay Reuters to engage in "large scale social deception"? No, that's not true: The U.S. Department of Defense paid Thomson Reuters Special Services to provide "software and information services to U.S. government agencies," a statement from the company's CEO said. Thomson Reuters Special Services and Reuters News operate independently of each other. The claim appeared in…

Did the NFL admit to canceling Elon's DOGE Super Bowl ads as several viral social media posts say? No, that's not true: This claim originated on a satirical Facebook page with a clear disclaimer. The page owner is known for tricking conservatives into liking and sharing made-up content. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) published on February…

Did Elon Musk pay for an ad that aired during the Super Bowl that claimed the U.S. Agency for International Development spent $2 million on German llama racing and other nonsensical spending? No, that's not true: No ads aired during the Super Bowl from Elon Musk about outlandish things the agency was supposedly spending millions of dollars on, including llama…

Did Elon Musk spend $40 million on Super Bowl ads that listed all the corruption the Department of Government Efficiency has found so far? No, that's not true: There was no credible evidence supporting the assertion that Musk bought five 30-second ads for the February 9, 2025, Super Bowl about the "corruptions DOGE has found so far." No ads aired…