NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A provision buried deep within the 394-page bill to reopen the federal government could personally enrich two Tennessee senators who were subjects of a Justice Department investigation.
The controversial clause would allow U.S. senators to sue the federal government if data from their cell phones were obtained for an investigation without notification. The provision is written retroactively, meaning Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty could each receive at least $500,000 for each violation.
Both Republican senators were among eight lawmakers who were subjects of a Biden-era Department of Justice investigation into the January 6 attack. The senators called the investigation a political witch hunt when it was revealed earlier this year. "It is worse than Watergate," Blackburn said last month. "It is deep, it is wide and we are just beginning to scratch the surface."
Hagerty said the investigated senators had one thing in common. "We're all Republicans," Hagerty said.
House members claimed they had no idea the provision was included in the massive bill. When they discovered it late Tuesday night, both Democrats and Republicans expressed outrage. "I think it is outrageous, outrageous for these Republican Senators to effectively guarantee themselves million dollar paydays," Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colorado, said during the House Rules Committee meeting.
Rep. Austin Scott, R-Georgia, agreed the provision was problematic. "That would never pass if that was a standalone piece of legislation," Scott said.
Despite the frustration, the House Rules Committee did not remove the controversial clause. "I'm not prepared to keep the government shut an additional day," Rep. H. Morgan Griffith, R-Virginia said.
"If we amend this bill with anything at all, with anything at all, we risk extending the shutdown, air traffic controllers not being paid, law enforcement not being paid," Rep. Scott added.
Blackburn's office defended the provision in a statement:
“Since the day she learned about Jack Smith’s spying operation to silence Biden’s political opposition, Senator Blackburn has made it her mission to ensure such a blatant weaponization of government cannot happen again. Senator Blackburn said she intends to sue those involved in this political witch hunt long before this provision was created, and she will continue to fight to stop activist bureaucrats from violating the constitutional rights of conservative Americans.”
Hagerty's office did not respond to requests for comment.
Blackburn is running to become Tennessee's next governor. Her Republican opponent, Rep. John Rose, is leading an effort to pass a separate bill that would repeal the controversial provision. House Speaker Mike Johnson indicated on X the House Republican Caucus would pass the shutdown bill but then work to repeal the provision as early as next week.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
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