The Following Content Has Been Provided by:Bob Unruh
A plan inserted by senators into the hotly contested short-term funding for the U.S. government, which would have allowed them to sue over the actions by Joe Biden’s Department of Justice to confiscate their telephone records, has hit a dead end.
The DOJ, as part of its lawfare under Biden and against President Donald Trump, schemed with telephone companies to access records of the senators’ telephone calling records.
Online commentators have suggested the records were obtained because special counsel Jack Smith, running some of the lawfare against Trump, was planning to use the records in further cases against Trump had he not been elected, and possibly include the senators in some of the cases.
Smith’s cases disintegrated when Trump was elected.
But some senators had inserted into the recently adopted short-term funding plan a provision allowing them to sue, “for a whopping $500,000 each,” over the snooping on their records.
The provision was buried in the legislation and actually allowed senators to sue “if law enforcement seizes or subpoenas their data without proper notification.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson said the House would work immediately to repeal the plan.
Johnson said, of Senate Majority Leader John Thune, “He’s a principled leader; I’ve enjoyed working with him. We’ve got a great working relationship and a good friendship. He’s a trustworthy, honest broker. And that’s why I was so surprised when we found out about that provision. It was put in our clean CR at the last moment. I’m—just to be honest, I’m very transparent with you all—I was very angry about it.”
He said House members didn’t appreciate the move.
He said Thune likely “regretted the way it was done, and we had an honest conversation about that. I didn’t ask him for any commitment at that time because I had a lot on my plate today, and I’ve been busy ever since that conversation we had early this morning.”
He said he’s confident of a House repeal and expects the Senate to follow.
Some of the Senate Republicans already have said they do not intend to try to make their case under the provision.
CBS reported there were eight senators whose records were demanded: Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.
And already at least three, Hagerty, Johnson and Blackburn, have said they have no plans to seek compensation.
“I am for accountability for Jack Smith and everyone complicit in this abuse of power. I do not want and I am not seeking damages for myself paid for with taxpayer dollars,” Hagerty said.
I am for accountability for Jack Smith and everyone complicit in this abuse of power.
I do not want and I am not seeking damages for myself paid for with taxpayer dollars.
Jack Smith targeted President Trump and his most ardent supporters, which includes me.
Jack Smith and…
— Senator Bill Hagerty (@SenatorHagerty) November 13, 2025
Blackburn added, “This fight is not about the money; it is about holding the left accountable for the worst weaponization of government in our nation’s history. If leftist politicians can go after President Trump and sitting members of Congress, they will not hesitate to go after American citizens.”
She said she has no plans to seek payment.
House will vote to undo provision letting senators sue over cell data obtained without notification https://t.co/XsCWLAhmA5
— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) November 13, 2025
BOMBSHELL: FBI Spied on Sitting Republican Senators Under Secret Program “Arctic Frost”
The Judiciary Committee just revealed something HUGE:
The FBI’s secretly pulled the phone records of sitting Republican senators as part of the Jan. 6 probe.
— Project Constitution (@ProjectConstitu) October 7, 2025
The FBI’s secretly pulled the phone records of sitting Republican senators as part of the Jan. 6 probe.
