‪Ben Penn‬ ‪@benjaminpenn.bsky.social‬

Buried inside the deal to reopen government is a provision that would give Senators private right of action to sue for millions in damages over their phone records being analyzed by Jack Smith’s team.
[….]
November 10, 2025 at 2:20 PM

Josh Hawley (r) [2024 file photo].

Eric Schmitt (r) [2025 file photo].

Yesterday:

Question: On Passage of the Bill (H.R. 5371, As Amended)
Vote Number: 618 Vote Date: November 10, 2025, 08:58 PM
Required For Majority: 1/2V ote Result: Bill Passed
Measure Number: H.R. 5371 (A bill making continuing appropriations and extensions for fiscal year 2026, and for other purposes.)
Measure Title: A bill making continuing appropriations and extensions for fiscal year 2026, and for other purposes.
Vote Counts:
YEAs 60
NAY s40

[….]

Hawley (R-MO), Yea

Schmitt (R-MO), Yea

[emphasis added]

What they voted for on Monday:

H.R.5371 – Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026

[….]

Requiring Senate Notification for Disclosure of Senate Data

[….]

(B) ALL OTHER INVESTIGATIONS.—For any investigation in which a Senator is not a target of a criminal investigation, the notice requirements under this subsection shall apply without delay.

(d) Private cause of action.—

(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection:

(A) INSTANCE.—The term ‘instance’, with respect to a violation of this section, means each discrete act constituting a violation of this section, including each individual—

(i) device, account, record, or communication channel subject to collection in a manner in violation of this section;

(ii) nondisclosure order or judicial sealing order sought, maintained, or obtained; or

(iii) search conducted.

(B) VIOLATION OF THIS SECTION.—The term ‘violation of this section’ means—

(i) the seeking, maintaining, or obtaining of a nondisclosure order or judicial sealing order to prevent notification of a Senator, a Senate office, or the Office of the SAA as required under subsection (c); or

(ii) Senate data was acquired, subpoenaed, searched, accessed, or disclosed pursuant to a search, seizure, or demand for information without notice being provided as required under subsection (c).

(2) CAUSE OF ACTION.—Any Senator whose Senate data, or the Senate data of whose Senate office, has been acquired, subpoenaed, searched, accessed, or disclosed in violation of this section may bring a civil action against the United States if the violation was committed by an officer, employee, or agent of the United States or of any Federal department or agency.

(3) RELIEF.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—If a Senator prevails on a claim under this subsection, the court shall award—

(i) for each instance of a violation of this section, the greater of statutory damages of $500,000 or the amount of actual damages;

(ii) reasonable attorney’s fees and costs of litigation; and

(iii) such injunctive or declaratory relief as may be appropriate.

(B) PRELIMINARY RELIEF.—Upon motion by a Senator, a court may award such preliminary injunctive relief as the court determines appropriate with respect to a claim under this subsection.

(4) LIMITATIONS AND IMMUNITY.—

(A) PERIOD OF LIMITATIONS.—A civil action under this subsection may not be commenced later than 5 years after the applicable Senator first obtains actual notice of the violation of this section.

(B) NO IMMUNITY DEFENSE.—No officer, employee, or agent of the United States or of any Federal department or agency shall be entitled to assert any form of absolute or qualified immunity as a defense to liability under this subsection.

(5) WAIVER OF SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY.—The United States expressly waives sovereign immunity with respect to actions brought under this subsection.

(6) AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE FOR TARGET INVESTIGATIONS.—It shall be an affirmative defense to an action under this subsection if the United States establishes that each of the following requirements are met:

(A) At the time the Senate data was acquired, subpoenaed, searched, accessed, or disclosed, the Senator bringing the action was a target of a criminal investigation.

(B) A Federal judge issued an order authorizing a delay of notice to the Senator under subsection (c)(3)(A), based on written findings meeting the requirements of such subsection.

(C) The United States complied with the order described in subparagraph (B), including that the delay of notice did not exceed the period authorized by the court.

(D) Any related subpoena of, warrant relating to, or access to Senate data was carried out strictly within the temporal and subject-matter scope authorized by the order, if any, authorizing the subpoena, warrant, or access.

(7) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to—

(A) limit or impair the constitutional protections afforded to Members of Congress, including to protections under article I, section 6, clause 1 of the Constitution of the United States (commonly known as the ‘Speech or Debate Clause’); or

(B) restrict the authority of the Senate or any Senate office to intervene in or defend against any legal process seeking disclosure of Senate data.”.

(b) Limited retroactive applicability.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by this section shall apply to any acquisition, subpoena, search, accessing, or disclosure of Senate data (as defined in section 10(a) of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2005 (2 U.S.C. 6628(a)), as amended by this section), and to any failure to disclose such an acquisition, subpoena, search, accessing, or disclosure, occurring on or after January 1, 2022.

(2) PERIOD OF LIMITATIONS.—

(A) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the term “violation of section 10” has the meaning given the term “violation of this section” in subsection (d) of section 10 of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2005 (2 U.S.C. 6628), as added by this section.

(B) PERIOD.—With respect to any violation of section 10 with respect to which the applicable Senator first obtained actual notice of the violation of section 10 before the date of enactment of this Act, a civil action under subsection (d) of section 10 of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2005 (2 U.S.C. 6628), as added by this section, may not be commenced later than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act.

This division may be cited as the “Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2026”.

[….]

[emphasis added]

“…If a Senator prevails on a claim under this subsection, the court shall award— (i) for each instance of a violation of this section, the greater of statutory damages of $500,000 or the amount of actual damages…”

“Clean Continuing Resolution” my ass.