US EditionSenate Fails to Vote on Funding Bills After Lindsey Graham Objection
Sen. Graham demands restoration of a provision allowing lawsuits over phone record seizures during the Jan. 6 probe, blocking a key government funding bill.
- On Friday, Sen. Lindsey Graham blocked unanimous consent, stalling the U.S. Senate vote until it includes a provision allowing lawsuits over seized phone records.
- Earlier this month the House of Representatives voted unanimously to repeal the funding package provision that barred senators from seeking damages after phone records were collected, a law added last year after former special counsel Jack Smith obtained records during the Jan. 6, 2021 investigation.
- House Republicans reacted with disgust, and House Speaker Mike Johnson said he was shocked and angered by the provision, while Republican leadership stressed damages would return to the government.
- Large swaths of the government could shut down at midnight Friday if Congress doesn’t approve the funding deal, but DHS funding was carved out and extended two weeks under a deal with President Donald Trump.
- The clause’s bipartisan condemnation highlights legal awkwardness as the provision drew criticism as an "enrichment" scheme conflicting with U.S. law, while senators warned Republicans would bear shutdown blame.
21 Articles
21 Articles
Lindsey Graham erupts at House GOP as shutdown looms over blocked lawsuit provision
Sen. Lindsey Graham lashed out at House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday as a federal shutdown deadline approached, furious that House Republicans moved to kill a provision allowing senators to sue the federal government for damages if their data was accessed without notice. According to reporting shared by journalist Jamie Dupree, Graham accused House leaders of jamming him and made clear he has no intention of backing down from the payout provis…
US Senator Graham Holds up Spending Bill, Pressing for Right to Sue the Government
U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham held up a bipartisan deal to avert a government shutdown on Friday as he sought to restore a widely panned provision that would allow him to sue the government for damages. Several lawmakers have blocked the Senate from acting on the funding deal, which would ensure agencies like the Pentagon and the Department of Labor would keep operating when current funding expires at midnight. But he was the most visible. Speakin…
Top Dem calls out Graham's "temper tantrum" over "multi-million-dollar slush fund”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Friday appeared to back off his demand to include a provision that would allow senators targeted by former special counsel Jack Smith to seek millions from the Justice Department but vowed to hold up a vote to avert a looming government shutdown unless the bill includes measures to “criminalize” the targeting of lawmakers. Graham on Thursday prevented the passage of a $1.2 trillion, six-bill package, forcing senat…
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