Thune secures provision in government funding bill letting senators sue for phone records seizure

Senate Republicans secured a provision in the bipartisan, shutdown-ending government funding package that could award senators hundreds of thousands of dollars for having their phone records collected without their knowledge as part of a Biden-era investigation.

That legislative language came directly from Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

In an interview Monday evening, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) — who claims he was one of the lawmakers to have his data subpoenaed as part of former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into President Donald Trump’s efforts to subvert the 2020 election — said Thune was responsible for the inclusion of provision.

“Leader Thune inserted that in the bill to provide real teeth to the prohibition on the Department of Justice targeting senators,” Cruz said.

A person close with direct knowledge of the legislation’s negotiations, granted anonymity to speak candidly, confirmed Thune oversaw the inclusion of the provision. It was tucked into the legislative branch spending measure for fiscal year 2026, part of a three-bill “minibus” of appropriations measures that Senators were set to vote on Monday night alongside a continuing resolution to fund the government through Jan. 30. The House is expected to clear the package for President Donald Trump's signature as early as Wednesday.

Thune’s involvement is notable as the revelations that Smith collected phone records for several Senate Republicans has emboldened GOP lawmakers, prompting them to deflect Democrats’ accusations of weaponization of the Trump Justice Department and claim that President Joe Biden’s DOJ was looking to target conservatives.

“The abuse of power from the Biden Justice Department is the worst single instance of politicization our country has ever seen,” he continued. “I think it is Joe Biden's Watergate, and the statutory prohibition needs to have real teeth and real consequences.”

Senate and House Judiciary Committee Republicans are now demanding answers from Smith, with Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley of Iowa seeking information from the administration relating to the probe and House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan of Ohio calling on Smith to sit for a transcribed interview.

Smith has said he is eager to appear before lawmakers in an open forum.

The provision states that electronic services providers must notify a Senate office if the provider receives a request to disclose the data from that senator, or senator’s office. Moreover, the legislative language stipulates that the provider cannot be barred from notifying the senate office under a court order, though that notification may be delayed in the event the senator in question is under criminal investigation.

Chief Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia District Court approved measures that would have precluded phone providers from notifying the senators that their data was requested by federal law enforcement officers. Lawmakers have since renewed calls for his impeachment over the move, viewing him as hostile on a number of fronts to Trump’s agenda.

This portion of the legislative branch appropriations bill also appears to provide a cash bonus for those Senators who were targeted by Smith’s probe. If the provision included in the bill is violated, the Senator can sue the federal government, and if the lawmaker succeeds in the case, the person will be awarded $500,000 or more for each violation by the government.

Cruz said the provision was “very directly” a response to Smith’s actions.

Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch were not consulted on the provision as part of the otherwise bipartisan bill, according to a senior Democratic legislative aide granted anonymity to speak candidly.

“I am furious that the Senate Minority and Majority Leaders chose to airdrop this provision into this bill at the eleventh hour — with zero consultation or negotiation with the subcommittee that actually oversees this work," said Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), the ranking member of the legislative branch subcommittee, in a statement. "This is precisely what's wrong with the Senate.

It was something of a swipe against Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who was involved in negotiating the funding bill with Thune. Schumer's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A Senate Democratic leadership aide defended the decision to include the provision, saying, "This protects the institution and Senators from an out of control Pam Bondi run Department of Justice.”

Asked whether the funding in the form of a payout for senators was taking money away from other programs across the federal government, Cruz criticized the Justice Department under Biden as “the worst single instance of politicization our country has ever seen.”

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), an outspoken privacy hawk, argued that the provision’s inclusion in the spending bill was “very troubling,” given the seeming lack of oversight or discussion around its development.

He added that his GOP colleagues appeared to be distancing themselves from the language’s origins, suggesting Thune might be providing cover for rank-and-file Republicans who could have demanded it.

“It seems that there’s quite an effort on the other side, people saying that they don’t know anything about it,” he said. “Which ought to be a wakeup call to everybody about the possibility of abuse.”

Jordain Carney contributed to this report.