US EditionFunding bill amendment would allow Sen. Tuberville, 7 others to sue federal government for $500,000
The amendment grants senators retroactive notice and a $500,000 minimum penalty for unauthorized data subpoenas linked to the Jan. 6 probe, affecting at least eight Republican senators.
- On Nov. 10 the Senate inserted an amendment into H.R.5371 requiring phone or communication providers to notify a Senate office and allowing affected senators to sue the U.S. for $500,000 per violation, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2022.
- Following disclosures that the FBI targeted eight Republican senators' phones in 2023, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, submitted a provision expanding the U.S. code notice rule from 2005, adding a 60-day exception and a private right to sue.
- The eight named senators include Marsha Blackburn, Lindsey Graham, Bill Hagerty, Josh Hawley, Ron Johnson, Cynthia Lummis, Dan Sullivan and Tommy Tuberville, with Blackburn and Graham planning to sue while Hagerty will not seek damages.
- House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced House Republicans will seek to repeal the provision next week, allowing senators pursuing suits to receive the greater of $500,000 or actual damages plus attorney fees.
- Critics say the amendment transforms a must-pass bill into a partisan payout, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemning payouts over $1 million amid cuts and Rep. Rosa DeLauro calling it a "poison pill" that complicates remaining 2026 funding talks.
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12 Articles
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Most Senators Don’t Plan to Sue Over New Phone Provision
Senate Republicans are mostly running away from a new provision allowing them to sue the government for subpoenaing their telephone records. The provision put into a bill to reopen the government after the prolonged shutdown by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has proved politically toxic, with House Republicans castigating the maneuver and vowing to vote to remove it. Of the eight Republicans whose phone records were subpoenaed as par…
Funding Bill Lets GOP Senators Sue for $1M Payouts Related to Jan. 6 Probe
For 24 million Americans, the bipartisan funding bill signed into law on Wednesday will cause health care premiums to double, triple, or even quadruple, pilfering hundreds or thousands more dollars from their pockets each month as costs for other basic necessities also rise. But for a handful of Republican senators, the funding bill could be a major windfall — as it includes a provision… Source
Tennessee senators among lawmakers who could sue over Jan. 6 phone record seizures
Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) are among those who would be allowed to sue the federal government $500,000 per violation for seizing their phone records without their knowledge during an investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection under a provision included in the government spending bill.
Funding bill amendment would allow Sen. Tuberville, 7 others to sue federal government for $500,000
President Trump signed a bill passed by the House Wednesday night, ending the government shutdown after a record-breaking 43 days, with a controversial amendment in the spending bill drawing attention.
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