Stimulus bill bestows $25 million bonus to House members? That’s Pants on Fire!

The $1.9 trillion coronavirus pandemic relief package includes nontaxable stimulus checks of $1,400 for many Americans.

An image widely shared on Facebook claims the American Rescue Plan would also give $25 million to members of the House of Representatives.

The image states:

"Did you know? Line 17 of the $1.9 TRILLION CV #Stimulus awards a $25 MILLION BONUS to House Reps?"

The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

H.R.1319, a 628-page bill divided into sections, contains hundreds of Line 17s. Congress isn’t mentioned. The House of Representatives is mentioned exactly once, in the first sentence — a reference to the fact that the version of the bill taken up by the Senate came from the House. 

Nothing in the legislation would bestow a bonus of any kind to House members.

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AFL-CIO

stated on April 13, 2020 in a Facebook post

"The Postal Service is not losing money because of Amazon. It’s losing money because in 2006, the Republican-led Congress passed a law forcing it to prepay its pensions for 75 years, which no other corporation does ... Without this law, the Postal Service would be turning a profit.”

In March 2020, a widely shared Facebook post claimed that a $2 trillion COVID-19 relief package that President Donald Trump was about to sign contained $25 million in pay raises for Congress.

There was nothing in that legislation that gave a pay raise to members of Congress, and we rated the post Pants on Fire!

Same here. 

The claim that the new stimulus contains a $25 million bonus for House members is false and ridiculous. We rate it Pants on Fire!