WASHINGTON, D.C. — Late Wednesday night, the U.S. House voted to repeal a last-minute provision buried deep inside the bill that reopened the government.
In recent days, the controversial provision — which allows senators to sue the government — sparked a major clash among Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress.
The House moved quickly — and unanimously — to erase a provision that many House lawmakers say they didn’t even know was in the bill that reopened the government.
“Honestly, I think it was ridiculous to put that in there,” said Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa. “The policy itself was sketchy… I don’t know how that occurred, but I’m definitely going to vote to remove it.”
“It’s not the right thing to do,” said Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich. “I think we have some folks here, and this is not Democrat or Republican in the Senate or House, we have some folks here who make life about them.”
“Those senators put forward bills that would perhaps put $1,000,000 in their pocket. And I think that’s very distasteful,” said Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y. “I will vote to just strip it.”
Congressman Langworthy believes lawmakers are entitled to due process.
“What happened to those senators is wrong, and it’s a direct violation of our separation of powers,” Langworthy said, while expressing concerns with the process that was used to add the provision. “What you should not be doing is jamming this into the bill to reopen the government.”
The bill passed by the House Wednesday would strip the provision allowing only senators the right to sue the federal government for up to $1 million if the Justice Department seizes their phone records without warning.
It comes after eight Republican senators and House Republican Mike Kelly, R-Pa., discovered their phone data had been secretly subpoenaed as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 investigation tied to the fake elector effort in 2020.
Some of the senators whose records were subpoenaed say they won’t pursue a payout. At least one — Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. — says he fully intends to.
“This idea that our government can’t be sued is a dangerous idea. The government needs to be held accountable when it violates people’s rights… I like the idea that you can bring a claim,” said Sen. Graham on Weds. “This is not about the money as much as it’s about making sure it doesn’t happen again.”
The provision has caused a rare rift between Republican leaders after Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., claimed he and House lawmakers were blindsided by the Senate.
When asked Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., appeared to stand by the decision and did not mention any plans to consider the House’s bill.
“This is something that needed to be addressed,” Thune said. “Allowing a federal government agency, the Justice Department, in this case, to collect information, private information on individuals, senators — we think that’s a violation of separation of powers under the Constitution.”
The Senate concluded business for the week Thursday afternoon and stands adjourned until Monday, December 1.
