Speaker Mike Johnson, at a information convention following the federal government funding vote on Wednesday night time, mentioned he spoke to Senate Majority Chief John Thune about his opposition to the Senate cellphone file provision that was tucked into the funding bundle.
The supply permits senators to sue the federal government if their cellphone information are investigated with out notifying them.
Eight Republican senators had their cellphone information subpoenaed by particular counsel Jack Smith as a part of his investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The supply would permit them to hunt a whole bunch of 1000’s of {dollars} in damages.
“We have had an excellent working relationship and friendship. He is a reliable, trustworthy dealer, and that is why I used to be so stunned after we came upon about that provision,” Johnson mentioned of Thune. “I used to be very indignant about it. I used to be and quite a lot of my members known as me.”
“I believe he [Thune] regretted the best way it was completed,” Johnson added. “And we had an trustworthy dialog about that. I did not ask him for any dedication at the moment as a result of I had quite a bit on my plate immediately.”
He reiterated that the Home will vote on a standalone invoice to repeal the availability within the Senate invoice early subsequent week below suspension, which requires a two-thirds majority.
“I believe that was means out of line. I do not assume that was a wise factor… and the Home goes to reverse — we’re going to repeal that, and I will count on our colleagues within the Senate to do the identical factor,” he mentioned.
-ABC Information’ Lauren Peller and Fritz Farrow
