U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King each signaled support Wednesday for repealing a provision tucked into this month’s deal that ended the federal government shutdown allowing senators to get at least $500,000 if their phone records are obtained without their knowledge.
Language slipped into the measure that Collins took credit for crafting to fund the government through January lets senators sue the government if they discover their electronic records were seized and requires a court to award them $500,000 or more for each violation found to have occurred. It specifically would benefit eight GOP senators who had their phone records accessed in former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The lawsuit provision was the latest dilemma putting senators in awkward positions after weeks of squabbling during the shutdown. A Democratic-aligned advocacy group launched an ad Tuesday tying Collins, who insisted she was not behind the provision, to its inclusion in the funding deal. King, who has taken heat from the left for backing the shutdown deal that included no extension of health insurance tax credits, is cosponsoring a bill to repeal the provision.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, secretly negotiated the provision with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, as part of the stopgap funding deal that ended the record-long shutdown and punted discussions on expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits to December. Schumer has since said he supports repealing the provision but was trying to also protect Democratic senators from future targeting by the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, Thune defended the provision ahead of the House planning to vote Wednesday on repealing the language that was leading to anger and confusion among members who professed a lack of awareness about it before the shutdown-ending vote in which King and seven Democratic senators joined Republicans to support the stopgap funding bill. Attention will shift to the Senate and how many members may buck Thune if the House approves the repeal.
Collins, the Senate Appropriations Committee chair, has said she played a pivotal role in crafting and negotiating the shutdown-ending deal, but on the lawsuit provision, Collins spokesperson Phoebe Ferraiolo claimed she “played no role in that whatsoever.” The ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, reportedly said this month that Collins inserted it at Thune’s behest. Ferraiolo called that “incorrect” and said Collins “was not consulted.”
Collins now supports repealing the provision, Ferraiolo said Wednesday.
“Obviously, neither she nor Sen. King benefit from this provision in any way,” Ferraiolo added.
The eight Republicans who reportedly had their phone records accessed as part of Smith’s probe are U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee.
King said in a statement Wednesday he is cosponsoring legislation with 27 Democratic senators to repeal the provision requiring the U.S. Department of Justice and FBI to notify the Senate when a member is under investigation and if their personal information is being subpoenaed.
“The American people deserve transparency and accountability, and that’s what we ought to be delivering — not sneaking 11th hour provisions into a bill to end the longest running government shutdown in our nation’s history,” King said.
