Overview
- The enacted funding package includes a provision allowing senators to sue for at least $500,000 per violation if their data was obtained without required notice, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2022.
- House Speaker Mike Johnson said the House will fast-track a repeal vote next week under suspension of the rules, though it is unclear whether the Senate will take up the measure.
- The language is credited to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and applies only to senators, excluding House members, which fueled complaints of self-dealing from both parties.
- The remedy follows disclosures that investigators obtained limited toll records in 2023 for eight Republican senators in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6–related “Arctic Frost” inquiry; toll records show call metadata, not content.
- Reactions among those senators are mixed, with Lindsey Graham saying he will sue while others including Bill Hagerty, Marsha Blackburn, Ron Johnson, and Dan Sullivan say they will not seek damages and some back repeal.