Is Social Security a Ponzi scheme? The facts behind Elon Musk’s claim Social Security’s structure, oversight and safeguards make it fundamentally different from a Ponzi scheme March 21, 2025 Louis Jacobson
Whoopi Goldberg didn’t get ‘The View’ a $6 million federal grant. That claim originated as satire. A spokesperson for ‘The View’ said there was no truth to the grant claim. It originated on a satire site called The Dunning-Kruger Times. March 18, 2025 Madison Czopek
Elon Musk claims ‘massive’ Social Security fraud. How much money is actually lost to fraud or waste? Although federal officials have long recognized improper spending as a problem, it is not the main reason for the program’s dire financial outlook March 14, 2025 Louis Jacobson
Opinion | Can Elon Musk really do it all? Dave Portnoy doesn’t think so The Barstool founder turned down a government job, saying he couldn’t run his company at the same time. So how is Musk juggling Tesla, SpaceX and X? March 12, 2025 Tom Jones
Is Elon Musk’s DOGE ‘very popular’? That’s not what the polls say Survey respondents back efficiency initiatives in general, but sentiment on DOGE remains mixed to negative March 10, 2025 Louis Jacobson
No US government audits for the last 100 years? Here’s why ‘Shark Tank’ star Kevin O’Leary is wrong For decades, inspectors general have audited the federal government. The Government Accountability Office has been doing it for more than a century. February 28, 2025 Louis Jacobson
How does the US spend taxpayer money? What to know as DOGE and Elon Musk look for cuts As Musk and his critics toss around statistics, here are some points to know about how the government spends $6.8 trillion taxpayer money February 25, 2025 Louis Jacobson
DOGE touts billions in canceled government contracts. Where are its numbers coming from? DOGE claims $55B in savings, but its ‘wall of receipts’ totals $8.6B — just 0.1% of last year’s federal budget February 24, 2025 Caleb McCullough
Firing of FOIA officers leaves experts worried about public records access under Trump ‘Anytime that whole FOIA offices are getting fired, it portends terrible things’ February 21, 2025 Angela Fu
DOGE didn’t ‘discover’ $2.7 trillion in improper payments in Medicare and Medicaid overseas The nonpartisan US Government Accountability Office did, in March 2024, and the estimate includes all federal agencies since 2003 February 20, 2025 Sofia Ahmed
Opinion | More media threats: Elon Musk shares a chilling post about ‘60 Minutes’ The same man who preaches about the First Amendment and free speech wrote that ‘60 Minutes’ deserves ‘a long prison sentence’ February 18, 2025 Tom Jones
Opinion | A defense of fact-checking and the imperfect search for truth in an era of institutionalized lying Debunking three flawed criticisms of fact-checking amid Meta’s retreat and Silicon Valley’s appeasement of Donald Trump February 18, 2025 Paul Barrett
Are 150-year-old Americans receiving Social Security checks, as Elon Musk said? The explanation for apparent 150-year-olds receiving checks could relate to arcane coding practices, experts said February 18, 2025 Louis Jacobson
Trump, Musk claim government ‘fraud’ without showing proof. How common is federal fraud, abuse? The projects the White House points to are largely ones that the administration disagrees with ideologically, such as DEI and climate change February 17, 2025 Claire Cranford
Opinion | Mediocre questions, rambling answers, no follow-ups: Fox News’ Super Bowl interview with Donald Trump Bret Baier misses an opportunity during the first presidential pre-game interview since 2022 February 10, 2025 Tom Jones
