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LOADINGERROR LOADING WASHINGTON – Conservative House Republicans slammed a multi-million dollar giveaway to eight GOP senators tucked into legislation ending the government shutdown on Tuesday night, but said they had no choice but to move the bill forward. During a meeting of the House Rules Committee to set up a vote Wednesday that could end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, Democrats and Republican members of the panel repeatedly bashed the senator payday provision. Advertisement Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) read parts of the provision from the dais in seeming disbelief that senators would write a bill that so directly rewards themselves. “I personally agree this should be removed,” Scott said. “The problem is, if we remove it, it has to go back to the Senate.” “I’ve struggled with what to do. What they did is wrong,” Scott added, noting that it was dropped into the bill at the last minute without any consideration by committees in either chamber of Congress. Advertisement Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) agreed, calling the provision “self-serving, self-dealing kind of stuff” and saying it “needs to get fixed as soon as possible.” But he said that stripping it out of the bill now would only prolong the government shutdown since the Senate would then have to approve it again before it goes to the president for his signature. The upper chamber already left town on Monday after it passed the bill following a 41-day impasse over health care. The provision – apparently put in at the direction of Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) – would specifically give members of the U.S. Senate the power to sue the government if their office phone records had been obtained without notification by the Justice Department. It would not apply to members of the House. Advertisement The measure, which would be retroactive to 2022, seems designed to benefit Republican senators whose phone records were obtained in 2023 as part of the Justice Department’s investigation into President Donald Trump’s efforts to overthrow the 2020 presidential election result. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) revealed last month senate phone records had been obtained by the investigation. The legislative text says, in part: “Any Senator whose Senate data, or the Senate data of whose Senate office, has been acquired, subpoenaed, searched, accessed, or disclosed in violation of this section may bring a civil action against the United States if the violation was committed by an officer, employee, or agent of the United States or of any Federal department or agency.” The eight senators who would likely be eligible to file claims are Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). Advertisement The bill provides for $500,000 in damages for each violation, Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M) noted on Tuesday, meaning the cost to the government could be far higher since DOJ accessed data logs of some senators more than once as part of the inquiry. She introduced an amendment to strip the provision out of the bill, but it will almost certainly be rejected by Republicans. “The bottom line is, if we amend this bill with anything at all we risk extending the shutdown,” Scott said. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, put out a lengthy statement on Tuesday afternoon slamming the payout provision as “blatantly corrupt” and a plunder of public resources. Advertisement “If it were to pass, this astounding provision would give eight Republican Senators a personal payday of at least one million dollars each paid for directly by U.S. taxpayers,” Raskin said. “This jackpot is being set up at the same time Republicans throw millions of Americans off Medicaid and deny millions more a tax credit that helps make premiums for health insurance more affordable.” Attorneys for Jack Smith, the former special counsel who led the investigation into Trump’s fraudulent attempt to remain in power despite losing the 2020 presidential election, denied any wrongdoing, saying it was an authorized tactic to understand the actions of Trump and his allies during and leading up to his actions on Jan. 6, 2021. Several GOP senators were often in contact with Trump, including Johnson and Lee, who supported his efforts to challenge the 2020 election results. So,WhatNow? 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Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again. Support HuffPost Already a member? Log in to hide these messages. Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), addressing the Rules Committee as a senior appropriator, admitted the provision was inappropriate, but suggested it wasn’t worth amending the legislation and delaying the reopening of the government. Advertisement “I was surprised to see it in the bill. I was unaware of it,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said. “Do I think it needs to be in a funding bill? Not particularly. But do I think getting the government open is important? Yes, I do.”
