People are making false claims about Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s net worth again.
A viral post from Ted Nugent, the outspoken conservative musician, says that the New York congresswoman is worth $29 million. It’s not the first time this has happened — Ocasio-Cortez is a frequent subject of misinformation about politicians’ net worths.
According to the latest publicly available information, the congresswoman reported that she owns less than $50,000 in assets and has between $15,000 and $50,000 in student loan debt. Like other rank-and-file members of the House and Senate, her annual salary is $174,000.
“I am not even worth $1 million. Or a half million,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in February, responding to a since-deleted post claiming she made tens of millions of dollars. “I am one of the lowest net worth members of Congress, trade no individual stock, and take no outside income.”
You can look this information up yourself
Disclosures filed by House members and senators are available online. They are required to file these documents annually and include information about lawmakers’ assets, outside income, debts, and other agreements.
For example, here’s the “Assets” portion of Ocasio-Cortez’s latest financial disclosure, which was filed in August 2024 and covers all of 2023.
Clerk of the US House of Representatives
It shows four accounts, totaling a maximum of $46,000. The congresswoman reports that she does not own individual stocks and has no outside sources of income.
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Sometimes, the disclosures contain interesting nuggets of information. For example, her most recent disclosure shows that trips she took to South America and East Asia in 2023 were paid for by a foundation and a think tank, respectively.
In 2022, she disclosed receiving an engagement ring from her fiancé worth slightly more than $3,000.
While there’s a widespread notion that members of Congress are enriching themselves through corruption the reality is generally more mundane. Most often, it’s things like book deals that allow lawmakers to make extra cash on the side.
