WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 After 43 days, the government is officially up and running after President Trump signed a short-term funding plan into law Wednesday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The president\u2019s signature came a few hours after the House approved the Senate\u2019s modified funding plan \u2014 but not without some controversy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In addition to keeping the lights on through January, the funding package also includes three full-year appropriation bills for certain federal agencies as well as the legislative branch. But some provisions tacked on by the Senate for the legislative branch are prompting bipartisan backlash.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very angry about it \u2014 I was. And a lot of my members called me and said, \u2018Did you know about it?\u2019 We had no idea that was dropped in at the last minute. And I did not appreciate that, nor did most of the House members,\u201d said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., when responding to reporters Wednesday night about the controversial provision within the bill that ended the longest shutdown in U.S. history.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., reportedly directed staff to insert language allowing senators to sue for up to $500,000 if federal law enforcement obtains their electronic data without their knowledge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The move was made after eight Republican senators learned their phone records were subpoenaed \u2014 without their knowledge \u2014 during Special Counsel Jack Smith\u2019s January 6 investigation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a conversation with Leader Thune early this morning about it. I think he regretted the way it was done,\u201d said Johnson.\u00a0<\/p>\n
House Republicans say they were blindsided by the move, including the lone House lawmaker targeted by Jack Smith\u2019s \u201cArctic Frost\u201d probe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDo I have the same \u2014 for whatever reasons \u2014 do we have the same privileges as the Senate does? Apparently we don\u2019t,\u201d said Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., whose phone records were requested in September 2023<\/a> as a part of the investigation. \u201cIf it was a serious problem for the senators, why wouldn\u2019t it be a serious problem for members of the House?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Rep. Kelly learned that he would not qualify for the same protections as senators just hours before the House took up the bill for a vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t find out until last night, early this morning, that we weren\u2019t being considered to be part of that,\u201d said Kelly. \u201cWe\u2019re looking into it. We talked to the Speaker\u2019s office. We\u2019re going to see what can happen and how we can go forward with it. I think we should fall under the same protections as the Senate does.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n