The Bill to End the Shutdown Is Full of Giveaways to Republicans

"Last night eight Democratic senators caved and voted for a bill to open the government without restoring the Affordable Care Act subsidies they'd promised to fight for. You might think Donald Trump would appreciate the olive branch, but you'd be wrong. That very same night Trump's Justice Department announced a mass pardon for almost 80 individuals involved in Trump's campaign to overturn the 2020 election. This list included Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and John Eastman."

"Tucked inside the bill is a measure that would create a slush fund to enable senators who've had their phone records subpoenaed, without their knowledge, to sue over invasion of privacy, for at least half a million dollars. It's basically free money for Lindsey Graham, Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, Josh Hawley, Dan Sullivan, Tommy Tuberville, Ron Johnson, and Cynthia Lummis, all of whom had their metadata subpoenaed by Jack Smith. (No messages were included.)"

""Leader Thune inserted that in the bill to provide real teeth to the prohibition on the Department of Justice targeting senators," Texas Sen. Ted Cruz declared. "I am furious that the Senate Minority and Majority Leaders chose to airdrop this provision into this bill at the eleventh hour," New Mexico Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich said in a statement. "This is precisely what's wrong with the Senate.""

Eight Democratic senators voted to open the government without restoring Affordable Care Act subsidies. The Justice Department issued a mass pardon for almost 80 individuals involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election, including Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and John Eastman. The bill contains a provision creating a fund to enable senators whose phone records were subpoenaed without their knowledge to sue for invasion of privacy for at least $500,000 each. The provision removes qualified and sovereign immunity as defenses to such claims. Senate Majority Leader John Thune inserted the provision. Senators Ted Cruz praised the measure and Sen. Martin Heinrich condemned leaders for airdropping it.

Read at The Nation