The House has passed a bill to repeal a provision in the government shutdown-ending continuing resolution that allowed lawmakers surveilled by the federal government to seek damages.
The House passed the bill to repeal the funding bill provision that would permit U.S. senators to sue the government for “$500,000 or the amount of actual damages” if the government has subpoenaed or seized their data without notification by a vote of 426 to 0. Two hundred and sixteen Republicans and 210 Democrats voted to strip the provision from the stopgap measure.
Only 7 members did not vote on the provision—three Republicans and four Democrats.
The bill was voted on under suspension of the rules, which means the provision needed the support of two thirds of the chamber to pass.
The provision was inserted into the continuing resolution in response to recent revelations about the “Arctic Frost” investigation related to alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The investigation, a part of special counsel Jack Smith’s own case against President Donald Trump related to the Jan. 6, 2021 protests at the Capitol, ultimately led to eight Republican senators’ having their personal cell phones tolling data from Jan. 4 through Jan. 7, 2021 handed over to the FBI without their knowledge. Tolling data is information about who a call is between, the duration of the call, and general location data. The phone call’s content is not included in tolling data.
Violations that would allow lawmakers to sue under the continuing resolution provision include “the seeking, maintaining, or obtaining of a nondisclosure order or judicial sealing order to prevent notification of a Senator, a Senate office, or the Office of the SAA” or “Senate data was acquired, subpoenaed, searched, accessed, or disclosed pursuant to a search, seizure, or demand information without notice being provided as required under subsection.”
The bill now heads to the Senate, where Republicans are divided on how they will respond to the House’s effort to change the provision.
“We had a good conversation about that,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Wednesday upon emerging from a Senate GOP luncheon in which several senate Republicans reportedly voiced their opposition to putting the provision into the continuing resolution at the last moment.
“There is a high level of interest in addressing the weaponization of the federal government,” Thune added. “We’ll see what the House does and then we’ll find out what our colleagues here in the Senate want to do.”
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., previously expressed dismay about the inclusion of the provision.
“I think that was way out of line. I don’t think that was a smart thing … and the House is going to reverse—we are going to repeal that, and I’m going to expect our colleagues in the Senate to do the same thing,” Johnson explained.
Senators targeted by Arctic Frost have appeared split about pursuing legal action under the provision.
“I do not want and I am not seeking damages for myself paid for with taxpayer dollars,” Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., stated in a comment previously reported by The Daily Signal. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said he thought the provision was “a bad idea,” and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., expressed that he had “no plans” to sue.
Others like Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., have expressed an interest in pursuing legal action for its deterrent effect. “It bothers the hell out of me and I’m going to sue, and I’m going to create opportunities for others to sue that weren’t in the Senate,” Graham explained to the press in Charleston.
Meanwhile, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., has considered suing without seeking monetary compensation if she gets a favorable judgement.
“Senator Blackburn’s plan has always been to seek a declaratory judgment—not monetary damages—to prevent leftists from violating the constitutional rights of conservatives,” a Blackburn spokesperson explained to The Daily Signal.
One legislative proposal that could be a substitute for the monetary claims provision that has been floated by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, would create stricter guidelines for nondisclosure orders. However, that bill does not rectify the surveillance of Republican senators that already occurred under the Biden administration.
