Old claim about Obamacare royalties resurfaces with DOGE angle. It’s still wrong.

Several social media posts are touting what looks like a win from the Department of Government Efficiency against former President Barack Obama.

"DOGE stopped an annual payment to Barack Obama for $2.6 million for ‘royalties associated with Obamacare,’" the posts’ text read. "He’s been collecting it since 2010, for a total of $39 million taxpayer dollars."

(Screenshot from Facebook)

These posts were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

The claim also spread on X. 

This claim is rooted in satire, and is a variation of a claim that’s at least eight years old.

It originated from America’s Last Line of Defense, a satirical Facebook page operated by Christopher Blair, who also publishes stories on the Dunning-Kruger Times website. That website also published an article with the claim, including a fake quote from Obama.

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Facebook posts

stated on March 13, 2025 in Facebook posts

DOGE found former first lady Michelle Obama “has been receiving a monthly $122,000 payment from the (General Services Administration) since 2009.”

"Everything on this website is fiction," its "About Us" page reads.

Blair is a prolific satire writer, and his claims are frequently reshared without their satirical context. In April 2017, PolitiFact fact-checked a claim that originated from Blair’s former website called The Last Line of Defense, that said that the United States Treasury paid $411 million for "royalty payments for Obamacare." We rated that Pants on Fire!

There’s no proof Obama is receiving royalties for Obamacare, which is formally named the Affordable Care Act. The claim that DOGE stopped annual payments to Obama for Obamacare royalties originated from satire. We rate it Pants on Fire!