Senate Delays Shutdown Deal After Lindsey Graham Objects

An expected Senate vote on a package to avert a government shutdown was scrapped on Thursday night after Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) objected to the removal of a provision allowing senators to sue if their phone records were snooped on. 

Graham’s opposition came after the White House and Senate Democrats reached a deal to separate out funding for the Department of Homeland Security from five appropriation bills previously approved by the House. As senators prepared to vote, Graham met with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to discuss the agreement. 

“We’re not voting tonight,” Graham said Thursday night after leaving Thune’s office, The Hill reported. 

Part of Graham’s objection stemmed from the House vote to repeal a provision tucked into the continuing resolution passed in November that allowed senators to sue for damages if the government accessed their records without their knowledge. That provision was added after it was revealed that the FBI had analyzed the metadata of phone calls from several congressional Republicans as part of the investigation into President Donald Trump following the January 6 attack. 

“What senator wouldn’t want notification that they’re looking at your phone?” Graham said. 

“I fixed the problem that people had. I’m not going to ignore what happened. If you were abused, you think you were abused, your phone records were illegally seized — you should have your day in court,” he added. “Every senator should want to make sure this never happens again.”

After the passage of the continuing resolution in November, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) promised a vote on repealing the provision, saying that it should apply to all Americans, not just senators. The House followed through earlier this month, repealing the measure as part of the appropriations package it passed. 

Graham also said he opposed separating out funding for DHS.

“The cops need us right now,” he said. “They’re being demonized. They’re being spat upon. They can’t sleep at night.“

Thune said Thursday that he was hopeful that the Senate would be able to vote on the White House-backed deal. The government will shut down at midnight on Friday without any further funding. 

“Hopefully by sometime tomorrow we’ll be in a better spot,” Thune said on Thursday. “Tomorrow’s another day, and hopefully people will be in a spirit to try and get this done.”

Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal with Democrats to pass the appropriations bill and a two-week extension of Homeland Security funds to allow time for negotiations.

“Republicans and Democrats in Congress have come together to get the vast majority of the Government funded until September, while at the same time providing an extension to the Department of Homeland Security (including the very important Coast Guard, which we are expanding and rebuilding like never before),” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Hopefully, both Republicans and Democrats will give a very much needed Bipartisan ‘YES’ Vote.”