(NewsNation) — Some Republican members of the U.S. House joined Democrats in criticizing a provision in the bill to reopen the government that would allow senators to sue the government if their phone records were examined as part of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation.
The provision in question would allow any senator to sue the federal government for up to $500,000 of taxpayer money if their phone records were investigated by special counsel Jack Smith during his investigation into Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021. It would retroactively make it illegal for any federal department or agency to take senators’ phone records without notifying them.
House Appropriations Chairman Rep. Tom Cole, R-La., a key architect of the effort to fund the government, said he was not aware of this provision until press reports publicly revealed its existence. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., said he didn’t think the leadership of the Senate shared details with their House counterparts.
“I personally believe this language should be removed. (The) problem is if you remove it, it has to go back to the Senate. And then you are back to where you were 40 days ago,” Scott said. “I have struggled with what the right course of action is because what they did was wrong. This should not begin this piece of legislation.”
“I don’t think this provision should have been inserted,” said Rep. Chip Roy of Texas. “It should not have been inserted at the 11th hour without deliberation.”
Democratic leadership has also condemned the provision.
“The notion that eight Republican senators … would give themselves the ability, essentially, to rip millions of taxpayer dollars away from the American people so they could line their pockets because these people were insurrectionist sympathizers is insanity,” House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries told reporters.
Other Republicans said they were not upset about the proposal.
Last month, the Senate Judiciary Committee released a list of eight Republican senators whose personal cellphone data was subpoenaed by the FBI as part of Smith’s investigation into the riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The senators whose phone records were obtained are:
- Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.
- Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
- Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn.
- Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.
- Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo.
- Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska
- Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.
- Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.
“All of us have a right to ask their government for a redress of our grievances, and they certainly were harmed or could have been potentially harmed by what the Justice Department did under the previous administration,” Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind., told NewsNation. “I will leave that to the senators where they exercise that provision or not.”
The office of Senate Majority Leader John Thune did not return a message seeking comment regarding the origins of the proposal.
NewsNation’s Jackie Koppell contributed to this story.