No, DOGE didn’t find that the General Services Administration has been paying Michelle Obama

Did the Department of Government Efficiency find that the federal agency tasked with managing government facilities has been paying former first lady Michelle Obama monthly since 2009? 

Several Facebook posts made that claim: "DOGE found this little gem while doing a general audit of the (General Services Administration), the agency that acts as the country’s checkbook and accounts receivable department," text on images in the posts read. 

"Michelle Obama has been receiving a monthly $122,000 payment from the GSA since 2009," a headline at the bottom of the image said.

(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, Instagram and Threads.)

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Threads posts

stated on February 16, 2025 in a post

“Elon Musk just ordered all federal workers to be tested for drugs and those that fail have 30 days to retest clean or be fired.”

But DOGE announced no such thing. This claim originated from a known source of satire — the Facebook page "America’s Last Line of Defense" and its website counterpart, Dunning-Kruger Times. The Facebook page’s logo and the website’s URL is visible on the images, but without context that it is meant to be satirical.

Both are operated by Christopher Blair, a prolific satire writer whose posts often become viral without the original, satirical context.

"Everything on this website is fiction," the "About Us" page of The Dunning-Kruger Times website reads. "It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real."’

DOGE’s X account and website don’t show any findings related to Michelle Obama.

PolitiFact recently debunked a Pants on Fire claim that DOGE stopped an annual payment to former President Barack Obama for "Obamacare royalties." That claim also originated from America’s Last Line of Defense before users shared it out of context.

There’s no proof DOGE found monthly payments of $122,000 from the General Services Administration to Michelle Obama. We rate that False.