#new House republicans are furious after Senators snuck $500,000 guaranteed payouts – for fellow members – in the DHS funding bill
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) snuck a last-minute provision into the bill that allows senators – who were targets of Arctic Frost – to sue the federal government for at least $500,000 per violation if their phone records were seized without notice.
Eight senators were targeted in former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the 2020 election.
The language, which is buried in section 213, gives Senators the right to sue the US for violations of Senate data notification rules – and if that senator wins, they have to be awarded at least $500,000 per violation – unless the DOJ settles the Arctic frost lawsuit.
The rule applies retroactively to any data seizures on or after January 1, 2022, tailored to cover the 2023 subpoenas issued in Arctic Frost.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley exposed that the FBI secretly acquired phone metadata from multiple Republican lawmakers without telling hem, using grand jury subpoenas and nondisclosure orders.****
Targeted Senators (included in the bill)
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN)
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO)
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK)
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL)
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI)
Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
****House Republicans say they are furious.
Speaker Mike Johnson called the provision “sneaky” and a “bad look,” with the House later passing measures — sometimes unanimously — to strip it out.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) and others said it was “self-dealing that undermined GOP credibility” during shutdown fights over spending
Even some of the senators like Sens. Dan Sullivan said they had no plans to sue for monetary damages.
Thune and Graham have vowed to sue and blocked some repeal efforts.
With Sen. Marsha Blackburn saying,
“We will not rest until justice is served and those who were involved in this weaponization of government are held accountable”
Conservatives argue: if the DOJ can secretly spy on sitting senators questioning an election, what chance do ordinary citizens have?
