From left, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R- Iowa, Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, speak with reporters as they make an announcement about their oversight of the FBI, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

A provision in the deal to end the government shutdown allows several Republican senators to sue the government for as much as $500,000 when their phone records are obtained without their permission.

Eight Republican senators would seemingly be allowed to immediately sue and financially benefit from their relation to their respective roles in President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, according to an NBC News report. Phone records for U.S. Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK) were subpoenaed by federal investigators in relation to the efforts to overturn the 2020 election results — all without the senators’ knowledge.

The call logs and durations were recorded, but not the content of the calls. Still, senators like Blackburn and Hawley have falsely claimed they were wiretapped, which fact-checkers like PolitiFact have proven is not true.

The bill signed into law by Trump Wednesday night states that “any senator whose Senate data, or the Senate data of whose Senate office, has been acquired, subpoenaed, searched, accessed, or disclosed in violation of this section may bring a civil action against the United States if the violation was committed by an officer, employee, or agent of the United States or of any federal department or agency.”

According to Politico, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) personally negotiated the provision into the bill. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has promised a standalone vote in the House of Representatives to reverse the provision. 

Trump rewards loyalists

The Jan. 6 Committee found that the Wisconsin senator attempted to deliver a fake slate of electors for Wisconsin and Michigan to Vice President Mike Pence (R) on Jan. 6, 2021. The fake slate contained false information saying Trump won those states during the 2020 presidential election, according to unearthed texts from a Sen. Johnson staffer.

Johnson has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, although he acknowledged attempting to deliver the documents and later falsely accused Democrats of doing the same thing. In a statement to Heartland Signal, Johnson’s congressional colleague Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) criticized the new provision. 

“I will not support the bad deal passed by the Senate that fails to address the looming healthcare crisis and will continue fighting for an extension of the critical ACA tax credits,” Pocan said. 

“The provision allowing Senators to sue the government over the seizure of phone records is a blatant attempt by Senator Johnson to personally profit off his involvement in the Wisconsin fake elector scheme, and I strongly oppose its inclusion in this deal. I would hope that no Senator will try to take advantage of this provision for personal gain.”

Johnson’s office did not respond to an email request to comment. 

On Monday, Trump also pardoned 77 individuals allegedly involved in the plot, including his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani, his former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and a slew of fake electors from battleground states. Trump previously pardoned over 1,500 defendants who took part in the riot at the Capitol that day — many of whom committed violence against police officers, and several others had previous violent convictions.