Senate Republicans are expected to vote soon on whether to keep a controversial provision that was included in the legislation that reopened the federal government after the recent 43-day shutdown. But that language is causing significant division among the Senate Republican Conference.
That's according to a Tuesday article by Politico's Hailey Fuchs and Jordain Carney, who reported that senators are planning to discuss that section in a Wednesday lunch meeting. The provision in question would allow Republican senators whose phone records were accessed by former Department of Justice (DOJ) special counsel Jack Smith's team as part of their "Operation: Arctic Frost" investigation to sue the government for up to $500,000.
"[C]onfusion, frustration and anger ran rampant about what has quickly become branded as a politically toxic, taxpayer-funded windfall for a select few," Fuchs and Carney wrote.
Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) joked that there could be "some stabbings" when the topic comes up during the Senate GOP's lunch. He told Politico that the provision violated "trust and good faith" among his fellow Republicans.
"Whoever put this in had an obligation to tell us about it, and they didn’t," Kennedy said.
House Republicans are expected to vote Wednesday to repeal the provision, which Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) characterized as a "pretty serious mistake" and a "cash payout to Republican senators." But Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has continued to defend it in spite of the House vote, insisting that the language "doesn't apply to them."
Despite Thune's insistence on keeping the lawsuit language in place, Republicans are distancing themselves from it. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) went on the record to Politico that he would vote for its repeal, and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) blamed "the leaders" for the provision and that she "played no role" in crafting it.
Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) along with Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) all had their phone records seized by Smith's prosecutors. However, only Graham has publicly promised to sue for the $500,000, while other senators have either opposed it directly or said they would insist on a non-monetary judgment if they did pursue litigation.
Click here to read Politico's full article.