Overview
- The House voted unanimously to repeal the Senate-only measure that lets certain senators sue over undisclosed seizures of their phone data.
- Senate Majority Leader John Thune sought unanimous consent to direct any awarded damages to the U.S. Treasury rather than to individual lawmakers, but Sen. Martin Heinrich objected.
- Heinrich argued a formal statutory change is required, while his own attempt to advance the House repeal was blocked earlier by Sen. Lindsey Graham.
- The current law authorizes at least $500,000 per violation for eight Republican senators whose metadata was obtained in the Arctic Frost probe, with exceptions for targets of investigations or court-ordered notice delays.
- The Senate recessed until Dec. 1 with no resolution, as Graham says he intends to sue the Justice Department, Verizon, and others under the provision.