A hidden clause in the government shutdown bill could give Hawley, other senators at least $1M each

WASHINGTON — As the longest government shutdown in U.S. history came to an end, a new controversy is emerging over a little-noticed clause that could personally enrich sitting senators.

Buried deep inside the 394-page bill to reopen the government, the Senate added a provision allowing senators to sue the U.S. government for at least $1 million each if federal investigators obtained their phone or digital records without notice.

The clause, retroactive to 2022, appears to apply to eight Republican senators, including Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, whose phone records were subpoenaed during Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The text reads:

“...any senator whose Senate data, or the Senate data of whose Senate office, has been acquired, sub