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Instagram posts
Instagram posts
stated on February 9, 2025 an Instagram post:

Says U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren said, “There is nothing in the Constitution that says ordinary citizens have a right to see what we spend our…

False
By Ciara O'Rourke
February 11, 2025

No, Warren didn’t say citizens don’t have the right to know what the government spends money on

If your time is short

  • This claim is unfounded.

See the sources for this fact-check

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has criticized President Donad Trump adviser Elon Musk’s access to the federal payment system. But a purported quote attributed to Warren about who can see what the government spends money on isn’t authentic. 

“There is nothing in the Constitution that says ordinary citizens have a right to see what we spend our tax dollars on,” a quote in a Feb. 9 Facebook post said. It’s attributed to Warren on Jan. 30, 2025.

This post was 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.)

As the Facebook post points out, the Constitution includes a clause in Article 1 that says “no money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law, and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.” 

A Warren spokesperson told PolitiFact the quote attributed to the senator is fake.

We found no evidence that she made such a statement Jan. 30, or anytime. 

Press releases the senator’s office issued that day included no such claim. 

When she appeared on ABC’s “The View” talk show that morning, she urged Democrats to “get back in the fight” but didn’t say people didn’t have the right to know how the federal government spent tax money. 

Searching for the quote led us only to unsourced social media posts.

And on the senator’s own social media accounts, we found nothing resembling this Facebook post’s quote. 

We rate claims she said this False.

Our Sources

Instagram post, Feb. 9, 2025

Facebook post, Feb. 4, 2025

X post, Jan. 30, 2025

Elizabeth Warren Facebook account, visited Feb. 10, 2025

Elizabeth Warren Instagram account, visited Feb. 10, 2025

Elizabeth Warren X account, visited Feb. 10, 2025

Elizabeth Warren, At Hearing, Army Secretary Nominee Agrees with Warren’s Right to Repair Cost-Cutting Recommendations, Jan. 30, 2025

Elizabeth Warren, Warren Warns Hegseth Against Going After Former Joint Chiefs Chairman General Milley, Demands Reinstatement of Pentagon Watchdog, Jan. 30, 2025

The New York Times, Elon Musk’s Team Now Has Access to Treasury’s Payments System, Feb. 1, 2025

U.S. Constitution, ArtI.S9.C7.1 Overview of Appropriations Clause, visited Feb. 10, 2025

 

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