Senate Republicans are rightfully angry that former special counsel Jack Smith seized the phone records of at least eight of their colleagues as part of his overzealous investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. They were so irate about the prosecutorial overreach against the legislative branch, however, that they snuck a provision into the bill to reopen the government this week that would allow these senators to collect $500,000 in taxpayer-funded damages, plus legal fees.

This outraged many House Republicans. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) called it “a really bad look.” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) described it as “self-serving” and "self-dealing.” Even some hardcore MAGA members, including Reps. Lauren Boebert (Colorado) and Anna Paulina Luna (Florida), ripped the giveaw

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