Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., defended — and even doubled down on — the disputed provision tucked into the Senate’s short-term funding bill, brushing aside mounting criticism from House Republicans and insisting the lower chamber should stay out of it.
The clause — loosely referred to as the “Arctic Frost” or “spy clause” — would let senators seek up to $500,000 in damages from the Justice Department if their communications or activities were secretly surveilled, mirroring the circumstances that emerged during the Arctic Frost investigation led by Special Counsel Jack Smith and the FBI into President Donald Trump.
House Republicans, including Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, have lambasted the provision as “self-serving” and vowed to strip it out before the lower chamber votes.
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