House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday vowed to remove language from a bill to end the government shutdown that would allow Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and seven other senators to sue the federal government.
Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, said he was unaware of the provision enabling Tuberville to sue the government for at least $500,000 for not giving the senators notice that their phone records were accessed as part of then-special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection.
“It was a really bad look,” Johnson said, according to Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News. “And we’re going to fix it in the House.”
Johnson’s statement on the provision comes a day after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. likened the lawsuit opportunity to a “slush fund.”
Besides Tuberville, seven other Republican senators would be able to sue the federal government.
“We are talking about a multi-million dollar slush fund that is in this bill for eight Republican senators, who apparently believe they’re part of the House of Lords. Because that’s something that would be done if you think you’re a lord, not someone who is subject to the rule of law. That’s extraordinary to me,” Jeffries said.
“And unfortunately, it appears that despite how outrageous this provision is, my Republicans colleagues are prepared to vote for it … while at the same period of time can’t find a dime to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits,“ Jeffries told reporters.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., authored an amendment to remove the provision from the spending bill, which is part of a package to end the longest federal government shutdown in history.
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