Congress in a Fix Over Senators' $500, 000 Lawsuit Law

The House of Representatives is set to vote on removing a part of a recent law that lets senators sue the government for half a million dollars if their phone records are checked without their say-so. This law was quietly added to a bigger bill that ended a government shutdown. The House seems likely to pass this change easily. But in the Senate, opinions are mixed. Senate Majority Leader John Thune defended the law, saying it protects senators from what he calls the Justice Department's misuse of power. He believes this law gives senators a way to fight back if they're unfairly targeted. The law says that if a senator's phone records or other data are taken, the government must tell them unless they're under criminal investigation. If this rule is broken, senators can sue for $500, 000 each time it happens. This law even looks back to 2022, which means it could affect eight senators whose phone records were checked during an investigation into President Trump's efforts to challenge the 2020 election results. When this law was being discussed, some Democrats tried to remove this part, but Republicans said they had to support the whole bill to end the government shutdown. Some Republicans were upset about this part being added last minute without any discussion. House Speaker Mike Johnson talked to Thune about it and said Thune felt bad about how it was done. Johnson expects the Senate to vote on removing this part too. Most of the senators affected by this law don't plan to sue, but Senator Lindsey Graham has said he might. He wants to make sure this doesn't happen again. Thune agrees, saying the law is there to protect senators from future misuse of power.