Lindsey Graham blocks Home-passed invoice to repeal shutdown deal provision permitting $500,000 lawsuits from senators

Washington — Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, blocked a Democrat-led effort to approve a Home-passed measure to repeal a controversial provision that enables senators to sue for $500,000 if federal investigators search their telephone data with out their data. 

Sen. Martin Heinrich, a New Mexico Democrat, sought unanimous consent to approve the measure after the Home unanimously handed the invoice Wednesday, saying the supply many lawmakers wish to repeal, which was tucked in final week’s funding package deal, represents a rustic that “just isn’t serving the individuals.”

“Final week Republicans in Congress handed a authorities funding invoice that denies inexpensive well being care to tens of millions of Individuals,” Heinrich stated. “However what most individuals do not know is that additionally they voted to supply tens of millions of {dollars} to some Republican senators in a blatant, tax-funded money seize.”

The brand new legislation requires service suppliers to inform senators if their telephone data or different knowledge are seized or subpoenaed, and senators are entitled to $500,000 for every violation. It additionally applies retroactively to 2022, permitting the senators whose telephone data had been seized throughout particular counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the 2020 election to sue the federal authorities. 

However Graham, one of many senators whose telephone data had been subpoenaed, blocked the invoice. Any single lawmaker has the ability to dam a invoice’s passage beneath unanimous consent guidelines. 

“What did I do mistaken?” Graham stated, refuting the concept that it was a lawful subpoena. “What did I do to permit the federal government to grab my private telephone and my official telephone once I was Senate Judiciary chairman?” 

Graham deferred to Senate Majority Chief John Thune throughout his objection, asking him whether or not the supply had been socialized with Minority Chief Chuck Schumer, the committees of related jurisdiction and with the Ethics Committee. Thune stated sure. 

“So this wasn’t Republicans doing this,” Graham stated. “This was individuals within the Senate believing what occurred to the Senate want by no means occur once more.”

After outlining his plans to sue beneath the brand new legislation, the South Carolina Republican then gave the ground to Thune, who proposed to regulate the brand new legislation to “deal with the query that has been raised about private enrichment.” He stated with the change, any damages awarded beneath the legislation could be “forfeited to the USA Treasury.” 

“This measure is about accountability and never revenue,” Thune stated, requesting unanimous consent to make the change. 

Heinrich objected to Thune’s request, saying: “I believe we should always work with our colleagues within the Home to handle the underlying difficulty of defending members with out the outrageous injury provisions that had been retroactively put into this statute.”