House Republicans are moving to repeal a controversial provision that was slipped into the Senate’s version of the federal funding bill, which would allow senators to sue the government for accessing their data without their knowledge.
The provision, which would allow senators to sue the government and receive up to $500,000 or more for each violation, was reportedly inserted by Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) after it was revealed that several GOP lawmakers were investigated as part of a Biden administration-era investigation into the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol.
The investigation, dubbed “Arctic Frost,” helped form the basis of one of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations into President Donald Trump. It was revealed in October that the investigation had obtained phone communications from eight Republican senators and one representative. Sens. Lindsey Graham (SC), Tommy Tuberville (AL), Josh Hawley (MO), Marsha Blackburn (TN), Ron Johnson (WI), and Rep. Mike Kelly (PA) were among those tracked.
Rep. John Rose (R-TN) introduced a bill on Wednesday called the Repealing Enrichment for Senators Exploited by Targeting that would repeal the Senate provision.
“Two wrongs don’t make a right,” Rose said in a post to X.
The effort to repeal the rider has the support of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who said in a statement on X that Republicans would put the legislation “on the fast track suspension calendar in the House for next week.”
But that was called into question by Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL).
“That does nothing to change the fact that certain senators will get paid an additional $500k of taxpayer money,” he wrote in response to Johnson’s comments on X. “The Senate will never take up your ‘standalone’ bill. This is precisely why you shouldn’t let the Senate jam the House.”
The Senate provision was subject to scrutiny during the House Rules Committee’s markup of the government funding bill Tuesday night, with several GOP members expressing reservations about its inclusion.
Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO) later pressed House Committee on Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) over the Senate provision that would allow senators to sue the government and receive up to $500,000 or more for each violation, asking him if he supported it.
When pressed further by Neguse, Cole said, “Do I support the bill? Yes. Do I support every single provision in the bill? No.”
During the markup, Cole told Neguse he “didn’t have anything to do” with the provision and did not “have any knowledge of it.”
HOUSE PANEL GREENLIGHTS SENATE FUNDING MEASURE, PAVING WAY FOR FLOOR VOTE
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who is running for Texas attorney general, said the provision’s inclusion was why “people have a low opinion of this town.”
“It is beside my comprehension that this got put in the bill,” Roy said.
