In August 2025, videos purporting to show the net worth of prominent progressive politicians before and after they joined the U.S. Congress spread online.
"White House releases net worth numbers from DOGE's Congressional Audits," multiple videos on Facebook said, a reference to the Department of Government Efficiency, a cost-cutting initiative of the administration of President Donald Trump.
Pictures of various lawmakers in a slideshow, alongside their supposed net worths, accompanied this claim, including Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Jasmine Crockett of Texas. For example, one video listed Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders' net worth before joining Congress as $16,500 — and $116 million in 2025.
Screenshots from the videos spread on X and Threads.
However, these videos came from a satirical Facebook page called America's Last Line of Defense. We've rated this claim "labeled as satire" because screenshots of the video included the name of the creator's Facebook page — and, as of this writing, the about page on America's Last Line of Defense said, "Nothing on this page is real." That tagline also appeared at the end of the video.
America's Last Line of Defense and its associated Facebook pages and websites have a history of making up stories for shares and comments.
(Facebook user "America's Last Line of Defense." )
Furthermore, financial disclosure reports easily disproved the claimed net worth figures in the video. For example, Sanders' disclosure form for calendar year 2024 — the most recent available as of this writing — showed his n
Both House and Senate lawmakers must produce annual financial disclosures, which can be found here under "Search" and here. As such, there is no need for DOGE to "release" these numbers.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.