In light of recent revelations that the Biden administration spied on the phone records of several pro-Trump Republican senators, a controversial provision was added to the latest spending bill to authorize lawsuits against the government and telecommunications companies for up to $500,000 in damages.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who was among those targeted by the Biden FBI and ex-Special Counsel Jack Smith, now intends to use that provision to sue both the Justice Department and cell phone service provider Verizon, according to Newsmax.

The South Carolina senator may want to move swiftly with those lawsuits, however, as the House just unanimously voted to repeal the provision, and several other senators on both sides of the aisle have expressed a willingness to end or substantially alter the authorization to file claims for taxpayer-funded remediation.

Graham plans to file lawsuits

When the Senate finally voted to approve a continuing resolution to fund the government and end the partial shutdown, a provision was slipped into the bill at the last moment that authorized certain senators to file lawsuits seeking up to $500,000 in damages for the secretive and unauthorized seizure of their phone records by federal law enforcement.

On Wednesday, Deseret News congressional reporter Cami Mondeaux revealed that Sen. Graham had announced his intent to make use of that provision in response to the recent revelations that he was among approximately 10 Republican lawmakers whose phone records were quietly seized by the FBI and former Special Counsel Smith as part of the anti-Trump "Arctic Frost" investigation during the Biden administration.

The reporter wrote in an X post, "Lindsey Graham says he will sue both the Justice Department and Verizon as cellphone provider through the Senate CR provision allowing senators to sue over phone records being seized w/o notice."

Newsmax noted that Graham is the first of the GOP legislators previously targeted by Biden's FBI and Smith to publicly declare his intent to sue, and while there may be others in that particular group who decide to act similarly, at least a couple of the singled-out senators have made it known that they have no plans to seek taxpayer-funded damages through the courts.

House votes unanimously on repeal

The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that, in a rare display of bipartisan unanimity, the House voted 427-0 to repeal the special provision in the CR that would allow certain senators to sue the federal government and telecommunications companies. The repeal must now be similarly passed by the Senate and signed by President Trump.

The Senate's addition of that narrow provision to the spending bill had nearly killed it in the House, though the legislation survived on the now-fulfilled promise of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to quickly schedule a repeal vote.

One Republican representative lambasted the measure as "probably the most self-centered, self-serving piece of language that I have ever seen," while a Democratic member echoed that sentiment and said, "This kind of self-serving, self-dealing, one-sided get rich scheme at the expense of taxpayers is why Americans are so disgusted with this Congress."

Senators counter with bid to expand provision authorizing lawsuits

According to the AP, Sen. Graham has been undeterred by the bipartisan criticism from the House and told reporters this week that he is "not backing off" from the planned lawsuits against the DOJ and Verizon, as he instead intended to "make this hurt as much as it possibly can so nobody can do it again."

Potentially joining him on a legal crusade is Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), who indicated on social media that certain former officials like Smith should be "disbarred" and "thrown in jail," and warned, "If they aren’t, I will sue the living hell out of every Biden official involved in this to make sure this NEVER happens to a conservative again."

While Graham is dead-set against repeal, however, he is open to the idea of enlarging the provision to include others, as evidenced by legislation he introduced in the Senate on Monday.

"We should be expanding the ability to take action against the abuses of Arctic Frost, not restricting it. This means organizations, congressmen, staffers and individuals in the private sector who may have been harmed will be provided the same rights," Graham posted on X. "A country that does not allow for the ability to hold the government accountable for its misconduct can never truly be free."