Maine’s Sen. Angus King (I) has joined a coalition of Democratic lawmakers in cosponsoring a bill that would repeal a provision included in the government funding bill.
Under the new law, senators who had their phone records seized without their knowledge are eligible to sue for at least $500,000.
This comes after the Senate Judiciary Committee released documentation related to “Arctic Frost,” a 2021 investigation into the events that transpired on January 6, 2021.
The provision allowing senators to file lawsuits and collect damages over this was said to have been added last minute to the spending bill that reopened the government.
Senators Lindsay Graham (R-SC) and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) were among the proponents of the provision.
“I want to make this hurt as much as possible,” Sen. Graham said.
House Republicans were not included under this measure, meaning that those from the lower chamber also experienced having their data unknowingly collected are not eligible to pursue litigation in the same manner.
Earlier this week, the House moved unanimously to repeal the provision, but uncertainty remains regarding its likelihood of being reversed in the Senate.
According to reporting from CNN, House Speaker Mike Johnson had indicated that he was blindsided by the measure, with the Washington Examiner suggesting that House Republicans claimed that they were intentionally left out of the provision and had not been informed that it was added to the legislation.
Some Republican senators have also expressed distaste with the provision, indicating that they would not take the money or even distancing themselves from the measure as a whole.
On the Senate floor Thursday, Fox News reports that Majority Leader John Thune explained any damages awarded from lawsuits brought under the provision would be forfeited to the U.S. Treasury and not serve to personally enrich any lawmakers.
Multiple attempts to appeal or amend the law were blocked as lawmakers prepared to leave Washington DC for the upcoming Thanksgiving recess.
“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,” said Sen. King in a Wednesday statement announcing his co-sponsorship of a bill repealing the measure.
“The Anti-Cash Grab Act makes it crystal clear that lawmakers should not be granted special privileges when federal investigations legally look into their activities. Period,” said King. “This was a bad faith provision that has created a bipartisan outcry, and I’m urging all my colleagues to support efforts to overturn it.”
