The Biden administration’s Jan. 6 surveillance of GOP senators has quickly become a cross-chamber dispute after House Republicans were taken aback by “last-minute” language inserted into the Senate‘s shutdown-ending funding bill.
House Republicans became aware of the provision, which allows senators to sue the federal government for surveilling them without their knowledge, as the lower chamber prepared to vote on a government spending bill that had passed the Senate only hours earlier.
Republicans, particularly Trump allies, have long viewed the Justice Department’s investigation into Jan. 6 with suspicion, and the topic resurfaced again following revelations that the data of eight GOP senators was collected as part of the Biden-era inquiry.
Upon learning of the Senate language, House Republicans claimed they had been intentionally left out of the surveillance protections and bristled at the fact that they had not been informed that it was being added.
The episode marked a rare moment of friction between Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), who presented a united GOP front in a government funding fight with the Democrats that ended on Wednesday.
A source familiar with the provision told the Washington Examiner that Thune included it in the bill at the request of members of the Senate GOP conference, saying there was a “strong appetite for it” after the Biden administration’s investigation. The provision is only applicable to members of the upper chamber and requires senators to be notified when their data is requested by the DOJ.
The source added that the statute being amended already only applied to senators.
Johnson called his members back after a 54-day recess, immediately following the Senate’s passage of its version of a short-term bill to fund the government until the end of January. As the lower chamber returned, the speaker expressed his anger while caveating that he viewed Thune as a “trustworthy and honest broker.”
The provision was also discussed in the Rules Committee meeting, which was held to prepare for a floor vote on the bill. Republicans criticized the “optics” that came with it, but had they decided to strip the provision, it would have had to go back to the Senate for approval, leaving the government shut down for an even longer period of time.
“We had no idea that was dropped in at the last minute, and I did not appreciate that, nor did most of the House members,” Johnson said immediately after the bill passed.
Johnson promised to bring forward a “stand-alone” bill next week that would repeal the provision, meant to ease some tensions ahead of the vote taken Wednesday night to fund the government. The speaker’s promise came shortly after Rep. John Rose (R-TN) introduced a bill that would do just that, arguing “two wrongs don’t make a right.”
The provision related to eight GOP senators who were subpoenaed without notice by former special counsel Jack Smith in his Jan. 6 investigation, also known as “Arctic Frost,” and allows them to sue the federal government for at least $500,000 each. The senators include Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).
When asked if he would file a lawsuit, Graham replied, “Oh, definitely. And if you think I’m going to settle this thing for a million dollars? No.”
Senate GOP leadership has thus far not addressed the dispute with Johnson, and Thune’s office did not provide comment on potential consideration of any legislation.
Johnson’s promise, meanwhile, did not dissipate anger within his House conference.
“That does nothing to change the fact that certain senators will get paid an additional $500k of taxpayer money,” Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) said in response to Johnson’s remedy.
“The Senate will never take up your ‘stand-alone’ bill,” he said. “This is precisely why you shouldn’t let the Senate jam the House.”
Steube ultimately voted “no” on the government funding bill, telling reporters that he’s “not voting to give Lindsey Graham half a million dollars.” The Florida Republican went on to accuse his fellow House members of being “complicit.”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) shared her frustrations with the Washington Examiner, but ultimately voted in favor of the legislation. Luna called the deal “shady” and a “fubar,” and when asked if it was a reflection on Thune, she responded, “Yeah, why would you do that?”
Luna said the bill to repeal the measure will be passed out of the House, but doesn’t know if “it’ll go anywhere in the Senate.”
“It’s disappointing, because some of them are good members,” she concluded. “It’s like, why would you allow that?”
Although the legislation only applies to senators, Fox News reported Thursday that Smith also targeted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and former Rep. Louie Gohmert’s (R-TX) phone records in relation to the Jan. 6 riots as well.
The short-term bill included a “minibus” package of three appropriations bills that would fund the Veterans Affairs and Agriculture departments, among others. The legislation notably does not include any extension of expiring Obamacare subsidies that became the centerpiece of Democrats’ demands in the shutdown fight.
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Thune promised Democrats a vote next month on the expiring subsidies, with no guarantee that they can pass Congress or be signed into law. Johnson has not made any promises to bring up a bill to extend the subsidies.
Rachel Schilke and Ramsey Touchberry contributed to this article.
