Taxpayers did not pay $120,000 for Pelosi’s hair appointment

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi found herself in a hairy situation this week.

On Sept. 1, Fox News released security footage of Pelosi at a hair salon in San Francisco, her hometown. In the video, the speaker walks across the salon with wet hair and what appears to be a mask around her neck.

After the video aired, Pelosi faced backlash for getting a wash and blow-out amid ongoing coronavirus restrictions in San Francisco. Pelosi said the stylist at eSalon, where she has gone several times, told her she could visit on Aug. 31 within local guidelines — but the city prohibited non-essential businesses like salons from operating at the time.

There are conflicting reports as to whether the owner of the salon OK’ed the appointment, but she called it a "slap in the face" for Pelosi to get her hair done while others couldn’t. Pelosi said it was a politically motivated "setup" and called for the salon to apologize. President Donald Trump weighed in on Twitter.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

The incident inspired a slew of stories on Facebook about Pelosi’s hair, but one widely shared post didn’t take issue with the speaker breaking San Francisco’s coronavirus rules. Instead, it criticized the purported cost of her travel to the salon.

"It cost taxpayers $120,000 to fly Nancy to get her hair done," the Sept. 1 post says. "Plus ground travel and protection. That’s what should be in the news."

This post, shared thousands of times, was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) 

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Drew Hammill, Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, told us it "cost nothing" for the speaker to go to her hair appointment.

"She didn’t fly to get her hair done. She was already there," Hammill said. "It was not a trip for the sole purpose of the hair appointment."

The Facebook post plays into a long-debunked claim that Pelosi flies to and from her home in San Francisco at great expense to taxpayers.

During her first stint as speaker, Pelosi did have access to a 12-seat Gulfstream V due to security precautions put in place after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. But she has routinely flown on commercial airlines since 2011 and has been spotted in coach. In 2010, we also debunked claims of Pelosi raking up a $100,000 bar tab on her plane rides.

Each member of Congress receives a budget called the Members’ Representational Allowance, which covers "official office expenses" including "travel between a member’s district or state and Washington, D.C." Members who live in districts far from Washington, such as Pelosi, get a little more than members who live closer to the capital.

We could find no evidence that Pelosi’s day at the salon cost taxpayers more than $100,000.

The Facebook post makes an inaccurate claim. We rate it False.