The claim: Congress voted to exempt its members from tax audits

The recently signed climate and health care spending bill includes a provision to help the Internal Revenue Service increase enforcement and process a years-long audit backlog.

Soon after the bill was passed, some social media users shared claims that the same House and Senate voted to spare themselves from IRS audits.

"In order to safeguard democracy, Congress has voted to exempt itself and its members from upcoming IRS audits," reads text in an Aug. 17 Facebook post that more than 140 users shared. "#unbelievable."

The post includes a photo of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and several other Democratic representatives standing in front of a crowd of photographers. The same claim and image appear in dozens of other posts on Facebook, most of which include a screenshot of a tweet from Twitter page News That Matters that has accrued more than 13,000 retweets and 18,000 likes since it was posted on Aug. 17.

"Of course, rules for me not for thee!" one user commented on a Facebook post of the claim.

The claim, however, is false. The IRS says it never happened, and the claim originated on a website known for satirical content.

USA TODAY reached out to News that Matters and a Facebook user who shared the post for comment.

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No evidence for the claim

USA TODAY did not find any credible news or government reports that Congress...

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