Funding Bill Lets GOP Senators Sue for $1M Payouts Related to Jan. 6 Probe

"U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) holds up a hat that reads "Trump 2028" during an event at the Kennedy Center on August 13, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images For 24 million Americans, the bipartisan funding bill signed into law on Wednesday will cause health care premiums to double, triple, or even quadruple, pilfering hundreds or thousands more dollars from their pockets each month as costs for other basic necessities also rise."

"The legislation passed by Congress this week allows senators to sue for at least $500,000 for each instance in which federal investigators searched their phone records without their knowledge in relation to Special Prosecutor Jack Smith's probe into President Donald Trump's role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. This provision would apply retroactively, stretching back to 2022, and would require senators to be notified of the searches."

Twenty-four million Americans will face sharply higher health care premiums after passage of the bipartisan funding bill, with premiums potentially doubling, tripling, or quadrupling and increasing household costs. The bill contains a provision allowing senators to sue for at least $500,000 for each instance federal investigators searched their phone records without notifying them in connection with Special Counsel Jack Smith’s January 6 probe. The provision applies retroactively to 2022 and mandates notification of such searches. Negotiations between Senate leaders John Thune and Chuck Schumer produced the insertion. At least ten Republican senators are potentially eligible for payouts, with eight or more able to claim at least $1 million.

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