Fact check: Mace says she 'lost a lot of money doing this job the right way' while under an active ethics probe over $9,485 in overbilled housing reimbursements

"Anyone who came in here with no money and left a multi-millionaire... should be fully investigated... I've lost a lot of money doing this job by doing it the right way."

Rep. Nancy Mace, on her own YouTube channel, September 16, 2026. The segment where she makes this claim is at approximately 1:07.

Source: @NancyRMace on YouTube, September 16, 2026.

Edited factcheck clip - Maceopedia.

The Claim

In a September 16, 2026 video posted to her own YouTube channel, Rep. Nancy Mace discussed whether Congress could deport a member. Around the 1:07 mark, she pivoted to the question of congressional wealth. She said members who came into office without money and left as multi-millionaires "should be fully investigated." She then applied a contrasting frame to herself: "I've lost a lot of money doing this job by doing it the right way."

The clip frames her as having made personal financial sacrifices in public service and implies clean, unremarkable conduct with her government reimbursements.

The Record

Mace disputes the ethics process. Through counsel William M. Sullivan Jr. of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, Mace has called the OCC report "fundamentally flawed." Sullivan has said the report "appears to incorporate unverified assertions and materials that may have originated from, or been influenced by, Rep. Mace's former fiancé." Mace has denied any wrongdoing. She told ABC News 4 in January 2026 that she had "incurred over $100,000 in DC lodging expenses and received approximately $29,000 after taxes," framing the total reimbursements she received as far below her actual costs.

What the public record shows. The Office of Congressional Conduct, the nonpartisan body that handles initial ethics reviews, voted 6-0 on November 18, 2025 to find "substantial reason to believe that Rep. Mace engaged in improper reimbursement practices." That vote triggered a referral, under Review No. 25-5681, to the House Committee on Ethics, which publicly released the full OCC report and announced an expanded review on March 2, 2026.

The OCC's finding centered on Mace's use of her Members' Representational Allowance to seek reimbursement for stays at a Washington, D.C., property she co-owned with her then-fiancé. The OCC found she requested the maximum allowable reimbursement every single month she filed a form. For four months in 2024 (January, March, April, and May), her requests exceeded the property's actual expenses, producing a calculated excess of $9,485.46. The OCC also identified excess months across eight months of 2023.

A former staffer who helped fill out the reimbursement forms told OCC investigators (paragraph 31 of the report):

"So when I first started filling out these forms, the Congresswoman and the Chief of Staff would always talk about how it doesn't even come close to covering her living costs. And so when they checked over, I made sure that they never went over her current living costs. So the max out was, according to them, accurate."

The OCC cited this testimony as evidence that the instruction to file for the maximum came from Mace and her former chief of staff, not from a staffer acting independently.

Refusal to cooperate. Because Mace declined to be interviewed, the OCC stated it "was unable to determine how or why Rep. Mace decided to seek the maximum allowable reimbursement when it exceeded her expenses incurred." Mace's former chief of staff Daniel Hanlon and former staffers Lorie Khatod and Richard Chalkey also refused to cooperate. The OCC recommended the Ethics Committee issue subpoenas to all four.

What the OCC cited. In connection with the reimbursement requests, the OCC report noted potential applicability of 18 U.S.C. § 1001 (false statements to the federal government), 18 U.S.C. § 641 (conversion of public money or property), 31 U.S.C. § 1301 (appropriations law), and House Rule 23.

Where things stand. The "substantial reason to believe" standard is the OCC's referral threshold. It is not a finding that Mace violated any law or House rule. The House Ethics Committee has made no such finding. The investigation is ongoing. The Committee's Chair, Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS), and Ranking Member Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA), issued the March 2, 2026 announcement of the expanded review.

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On camera, Mace describes herself as someone who lost money "doing this job by doing it the right way." The public record shows that as of September 2026, the House Ethics Committee is actively reviewing an OCC finding (a unanimous 6-0 bipartisan vote) of substantial reason to believe she overbilled taxpayers in housing reimbursements by $9,485.46. Mace denies wrongdoing. Readers can review the OCC's full report and judge.

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Sources: OCC Report and Findings, Rep. Mace, full PDF (ethics.house.gov) · House Ethics Committee Chair/Ranking Member statement (Mar. 2, 2026) · Post and Courier · Roll Call (Mar. 2, 2026) · Washington Examiner, Rachel Schilke · WIS-TV, Marley Bassett · ABC News 4, Ian Kayanja (Jan. 16, 2026) | Ethics Investigation hub · House Ethics Investigation · OCC Report dispatch (Mar. 2, 2026) · Mace calls probe retaliation (Mar. 6, 2026)