WASHINGTON—The U.S. House on Nov. 19 voted to rescind a provision from a recent bill to fund the federal government that would have permitted senators to receive major cash payouts from the Department of Justice (DOJ) as compensation for unlawful phone record searches conducted on them.
On Wednesday, the House voted 426–0 to rescind the provision, in line with a promise made by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) last week ahead of the vote.
Such notification is required by law for investigations of U.S. congressmen or senators.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has not committed to a vote on repealing the provision, and his past remarks have indicated that he believes the provision is justified.
Ahead of the vote on government funding in the lower chamber, many House Republicans joined Democrats in condemning the provision, threatening the fate of the broader government funding package it was attached to.
Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) criticized the provision during the House Rules Committee hearing to advance the government funding legislation.
Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn.) spoke against the Senate provision during a speech on the House floor.
He agreed with many other Republicans that Biden’s DOJ had overreached in their investigations into the 2020 election and Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach, but said the measure was nevertheless inappropriate.
“No elected official should profit from the political calculations of left-wing bureaucrats and judges,” Rose said, adding that it is “shameful” to ask American taxpayers to finance the measure.
The provision is related to ongoing discoveries in Congress’s investigation into Arctic Frost, a sweeping Biden-era investigation that targeted a flurry of conservative individuals and organizations, including U.S. senators, Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, alongside hundreds of conservative organizations and individuals.
The investigation, which was approved by both former FBI Director Christopher Wray and former Attorney General Merrick Garland, formed the basis for special counsel Jack Smith’s election-related indictment of then-candidate Donald Trump.
Senators Unsure Who Added Provision
Senate Republicans have told The Epoch Times they’re not sure who added the provision.
“In terms of this provision that we all found out later was on the bill, my first question … is, how does the provision get there?” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told The Epoch Times on Nov. 18. “It wasn’t the virgin birth. I can tell you that—somebody put it in there.”
Kennedy indicated that he hadn’t been made aware of the provision when he asked about new sections of the bill ahead of the government funding vote.
Kennedy said that he believes that senators have a cause of action against the federal government, citing clear statutes that prohibit searches of their phone records without notifying them.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), who oversaw the legislative branch funding bill that housed the controversial provision, told reporters that he hadn’t been informed about the provision’s addition to his committee’s legislation.
“I was not aware when it got put in there, which is very frustrating to me,” Mullin said.
What’s Next?
Despite its unanimous passage by the House, it’s unclear if the push will gain momentum in the Senate. Thune’s past remarks have indicated reluctance to take up the matter.
On the other hand, some of the lawmakers in the upper chamber who could stand to gain from the law—including Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)—have been critical of it.
Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) last week expressed skepticism that the Senate would even consider Johnson’s proposal.
Mullin suggested that there is a developing dispute in the Senate related to whether the provision should be retroactive, or only apply to future violations, which indicates that the Senate may go a different direction.
If the Senate were to pass a different bill on the issue, it would need to go back to the House for another vote.
