House votes to repeal provision in bill to end shutdown that allows senators to sue over phone data

The House is set to vote on Wednesday to repeal a provision in the bill that ended the government shutdown that allows senators to sue if their cellphone data is obtained without them being notified.

The provision benefits eight Republican senators whose phone records were accessed as part of an FBI investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. The investigation started in 2023 and sought and obtained data about the senators’ phone use from Jan. 4 through Jan. 7, 2021.

The provision also requires that the senators be notified if their data is disclosed. If the senators are not notified, and they successfully sue, then the court would be required to award “the greater of statutory damages of $500,000 or the amount of actual damages” for each violation.

This doesn't apply if the senator is the target of a criminal investigation or if a court ordered that the notification be delayed.

The call data includes who was called, when and the length of a call, but not its content.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Tuesday regarding the lower chamber's vote, “The House is going to do what they are going to do with it. It doesn’t apply to them.”

“It’s designed to protect United States senators,” he continued. “We have a number of people who are interested in making sure that that sort of thing has a consequence if that kind of weaponization of the government along the lines of what Jack Smith did is ever employed again in the future.”

Many senators from both political parties seek to repeal the provision, as they were unaware it was in the government funding bill when it was passed last week.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., quipped that there could be “some stabbings” at the Senate GOP’s weekly lunch on Wednesday when the topic will be discussed.

“Whoever put this in had an obligation to tell us about it, and they didn’t,” Kennedy said. “There’s something called trust and good faith around here.”

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also said that the provision should ultimately be scrapped.

“The bottom line is, Thune wanted the provision and we wanted to make sure that at least Democratic senators were protected from [Attorney General Pam] Bondi and others who might go after them,” Schumer said Tuesday. “But I’d be for repealing all of it and I hope that happens.”