Many lawmakers are very upset with a provision in the federal funding bill they passed and intend to remove it, noted Washington Examiner congressional reporter Lauren Green.
The provision, slipped into the Senate’s version of the funding bill, would allow senators to sue the government for accessing their data without their knowledge, receiving at least $500,000 for each violation.
Green said two House Republicans voted against the funding bill, Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Greg Steube (R-FL), the latter’s vote being unexpected until the provision “came to light” Tuesday night, adding that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was “pretty angry” about it.
Green explained that then-Special Council Jack Smith conducted an investigation called “Arctic Frost,” which had obtained phone communications from eight Republican senators and one representative. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is among those who plan to sue, though House members “were pretty rattled” by the provision.
“I talked to Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna from Florida last night, and she was really upset by the bill, obviously. She didn’t deviate and vote against it, because if this bill didn’t pass or they tried to repeal it before the bill was passed, then it would have had to go back to the Senate, which would have prolonged the government shutdown even longer than it already was,” Green said on LiveNow from Fox Thursday.
“But Johnson did say that he’s going to introduce a provision to repeal it next week that they’ll try to pass under suspension of the rules, which means it’ll need two-thirds majority and it’ll pass almost immediately,” Green said.
Green added that it is unclear if Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) will take up the provision’s repeal. However, it seems Thune supports the provision, since he was “one of the ones that put it in there.”
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Besides removing this provision, Green previewed that Congress’s next steps will be voting on a bipartisan bill proposed by Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) to release documents related to Jeffrey Epstein next week. Green said the White House is “extremely against this bill,” but she expects more Republicans than the four who signed the bill’s discharge petition to vote for it.
Green also said a hearing about a stock trading ban has been announced for next Wednesday, something Luna has discussed starting her own discharge petition for. Green said both legislations have been “pretty controversial,” but is looking forward to covering them now that the government has reopened.
