X post exaggerates these 4 Congress members' wealth

A viral X post called out prominent Democratic and Republican members of Congress for their significant wealth, pointing to their six-figure salaries and multimillion dollar net worths. But almost all the figures listed in the post were wrong.

By the Feb. 11 X post’s account, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has an annual salary of $223,000 and a net worth of $202 million; Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has an annual salary of $200,000 and a net worth of $95 million; Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has an annual salary of $210,000 and a net worth of $75 million; and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has an annual salary of $285,000 and a net worth of $67 million.

The post was viewed more than 55 million times as of Feb. 17, and it tagged billionaire X owner Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, an advisory committee Musk leads for President Donald Trump.

"It’s not like these politicians started companies or were NBA All-Stars, so where did they get all the money?" Musk, the world’s richest person, wrote on X. "Does anyone know?"

Members of Congress are required to file annual financial disclosure reports detailing their assets and liabilities. Annual salaries for lawmakers are also publicly reported. But the lawmakers’ net worths aren’t driven by their government salaries; instead, their wealth mostly comes from investments, such as stocks and real estate.

PolitiFact analyzed these four congressional members’ 2023 financial disclosure reports — the most recent ones available — and found that this post exaggerates the lawmakers’ wealth.

How much are members of Congress paid?

Most congressional members receive an annual salary of $174,000, the Congressional Research Service said. For those in leadership positions, including House speaker, Senate president pro tempore and the House and Senate majority and minority leaders, the pay is higher.

When Pelosi was House speaker, she received a $223,500 salary. The X post claims this is still how much Pelosi makes, but that’s inaccurate. Pelosi left this leadership position in 2023, so her current salary is $174,000.

Similarly, McConnell, the longest serving Senate leader in history, left his position as Republican Senate leader in November 2024. In that leadership role, McConnell earned $193,400. His salary this year is $174,000. Even at his highest pay, McConnell earned less than what the post claimed.

Schumer, as the Democratic Senate minority leader, receives a $193,400 salary, about $17,000 less than what the post said.

Warren does not serve in any leadership positions, so her salary is $174,000 — $111,000 less than the post claimed.

These congressional salary levels have remained unchanged since 2009, the Congressional Research Service said.

How wealthy are these members of Congress?

Net worth is the value of a person’s assets, such as cash, real estate or stocks, minus any debts owed. In their annual financial disclosures, lawmakers are not required to report the exact value of their assets and liabilities. Instead, they must list a range of values for each item.

Additionally, not all of the assets and liabilities reported are held solely by the Congress member. Lawmakers must also report assets and liabilities held solely by or jointly with their spouses.

To estimate the Congress members’ net worths, PolitiFact added the minimum possible values for each asset and the maximum possible values for each asset. We did the same for the lawmakers’ liabilities.

We then subtracted the lawmakers’ maximum debt amount from their minimum asset amount, and their minimum debt amount from their maximum asset amount. The resulting range shows how much each lawmaker could be worth. We included in our calculations assets and liabilities held by lawmakers’ spouses.

Pelosi

The minimum possible value of Pelosi’s household assets in 2023 totaled more than $92 million. The maximum possible value of the assets totaled about $371 million. Pelosi’s household debts in 2023 ranged from $36 million to $102 million. Most of these assets and liabilities were held solely by Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, a businessperson who founded a real estate and venture capital investment firm.

Subtracting the Pelosi household’s maximum debt amount — $102 million — from their minimum asset amount — $92 million — results in a minimum possible net worth of about negative $10 million, meaning she would be millions of dollars in debt.

On the other hand, Pelosi and her husband could be worth as much as about $335 million when subtracting their minimum debt of $36 million from their maximum asset amount of $371 million.

So, it’s possible that Pelosi has a net worth of $202 million, as the X post claimed, but that’s a guess — and the post lacks context about the holdings mostly belonging to Pelosi’s husband and the range of wealth they could have.

McConnell

McConnell reported that the value of his assets in 2023 ranged from about $17.7 million to almost $70 million. Less than half this wealth came from assets owned solely by McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao. McConnell reported no liabilities. (Lawmakers are required to report only debts of more than $10,000.) The X post overstated McConnell’s highest possible net worth by about $25 million.

Schumer

Schumer’s 2023 financial disclosure report shows his household net worth ranged from about $687,000 to about $2.3 million. Almost all of the assets reported were held by Schumer’s wife, Iris Weinshall, and the one reported liability was a jointly held mortgage. The post inflated Schumer’s household net worth by more than $70 million.

Warren

Warren reported that the value of her assets in 2023 ranged from about $4 million to more than $9 million. Two assets held by Warren’s husband, Bruce Mann, had a value of at least $1 million with no maximum value disclosed, so Warren’s household net worth could be higher. Warren reported no liabilities. The X post exaggerated her net worth by about $58 million.

Warren’s spokesperson said the $67 million number is inaccurate and referred PolitiFact to Warren’s public financial disclosure reports.

PolitiFact also contacted Pelosi’s, McConnell’s and Schumer’s offices, but received no response before publication.

Our ruling

An X post claimed that Pelosi has a $223,000 salary and a $202 million net worth; McConnell has a $200,000 salary and a $95 million net worth; Schumer has a $210,000 salary and a $75 million net worth; and Warren has a $285,000 salary and a $67 million net worth.

Almost all of these figures are wrong. All the salaries listed in the post are higher than what these lawmakers currently earn. It’s possible Pelosi’s net worth could be in the $202 million range, but that’s a guess, and the claim lacks context about how much of Pelosi’s reported wealth is held solely by her husband.

We rate this claim Mostly False.