Overview
- The funding package signed by President Trump includes a new law letting senators sue the U.S. government for the greater of $500,000 or actual damages per instance when their electronic data is obtained without required notice, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2022.
- House Speaker Mike Johnson said he was blindsided by the Senate language and will seek a repeal vote on the suspension calendar, following bipartisan criticism that the measure is a self-serving carve-out.
- The notification rule requires service providers to alert Senate offices and the sergeant at arms when investigators seek a senator’s data, with a court option to delay notice if a senator is a criminal target.
- Lindsey Graham says he will sue under the law, Tommy Tuberville signaled he likely will, and others including Bill Hagerty, Marsha Blackburn, Ron Johnson, and Dan Sullivan said they do not plan to seek monetary damages.
- The provision, submitted by Susan Collins and reported to have originated with Majority Leader John Thune, followed disclosures that the FBI obtained call-detail records for eight GOP senators in 2023 during Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 investigation.