A little-noticed provision buried in the bill that reopened the federal government has fractured Republicans, pitting House leaders against Senate colleagues and injecting new tension into 2026 primary battles.
The measure — signed by President Donald Trump last week — lets any U.S. senator sue for at least $500,000 if federal investigators sought their phone records without prior notification.
Applied retroactively to 2022, it could hand 10 GOP senators sizable payouts stemming from subpoenas issued during special counsel Jack Smith's Arctic Frost probe into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
House Republicans say they were blindsided.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called the clause "way out of line," and Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn., quickly introduced legislation to repeal it, arguing taxpayers should not foot the bill for senators angered by an FBI action carried out "under Joe Biden."
The House is expected to vote this week on a fast-track repeal, The Hill reported.
Several senators caught up in the investigation, however, are signaling they may cash in.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he would "definitely" sue and push for damages beyond $1 million, while Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., vowed to "sue the living hell out of every Biden official involved."
Others, including Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., expressed support for addressing what they call political weaponization, though some have backed away amid public backlash.
The provision's Senate-only protection has also triggered resentment in the House, where members — including Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., whose records were also subpoenaed — were excluded from the new legal remedy.
With the repeal effort advancing in the House but facing resistance in the Senate, Republicans remain divided.
Critics warn the measure looks like self-dealing, while supporters insist it's needed to curb abuses by federal investigators.
The fight has already spilled into GOP primaries, intensifying scrutiny of senators who stand to benefit financially.
As Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, put it during a heated Rules Committee hearing: The public may see the provision as "self-serving," and that, he warned, "is not right."
Newsmax writer Eric Mack contributed to this report.
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