Ahead of the passage of a funding bill in the House to reopen the federal government, U.S. Representative John Rose (TN-06) introduced the Repealing Enrichment for Senators Exploited by Targeting Act (RESET Act), legislation which would undo a provision of the bill which enables eight U.S. Senators to seek $500,000 (per occurrence) in compensation following subpoenas of their phone data executed by the FBI under former President Joe Biden.
Rep. Rose released the following statement explaining his bill:
“The Senate should know better than to ask American taxpayers to foot the bill for the rogue actions of the DOJ under Joe Biden’s leadership,”Rep. Rose said. “Tennesseans have suffered enough because of the many failed policies of the last administration – and they shouldn’t be forced to pay more. I voted in favor of this funding bill because the government simply had to reopen. However, I am committed to making sure no Senator can enrich themselves from this vital bill to reopen the government.”
Rose signed onto a letter sent Oct. 22, to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi requesting a criminal investigation into the activities of Biden Administration Special Counsel Jack Smith, for potential Fourth Amendment violations during Operation Arctic Frost. He has consistently criticized the previous administration for overreach and the censorship of conservative Americans.
Tennessee Senators Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn were among the eight Republican senators who had their phone records targeted by the Biden administration. Hagerty has indicated that he plans to sue Verizon, his own phone carrier, for their role in the Biden scheme. Blackburn has indicated she intends to use the Senate provision allowing her to sue the department of justice to seek the compensation that was permitted in the Continuing Resolution.
Wednesday afternoon Senator Blackburn indicated that she was also supporting the removal of the Arctic Frost provision included in the Senate version of the continuing resolution.
House Speaker Mike Johnson says the House will move forward next week to remove the provision allowing Senators to recover $500,000 from the U.S. taxpayers for Department of Justice violations of their private phone records.
“I don’t think that was the smart thing to do,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday night.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune personally negotiated the inclusion of language in the Senate version of the funding measure that would allow senators to receive a $500,000 payment if federal law enforcement obtains their electronic data and doesn’t notify them.
It was a direct response to recent revelations that eight Republican Senators had their phone records subpoenaed during former special counsel Jack Smith’s probe into President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Speaker Johnson announced Wednesday afternoon the House would vote on legislation next week to overturn it; it’s expected to pass with wide bipartisan support.
The House passed the Senate version of the continuing resolution that contained the special benefit exclusively for Senators impacted by the Biden actions in order to get the government reopened as soon as possible. Removing that provision would’ve forced the bill back to the Senate for yet another vote and could’ve delayed reopening the government by a week or more.
