Johnson Rips Senate Republicans Over Personal Payout Provision In Bill: ‘I Was Very Angry’

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) pulled no punches this week in slamming his GOP colleagues in the Senate for adding a provision to the bill to reopen the government that would allow them to sue the government for financial gain.

Politico reported on Wednesday that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) “personally negotiated the inclusion of language in the legislative branch funding measure that would allow senators to receive a $500,000 payment if federal law enforcement obtains their electronic data and doesn’t notify them.” The measure stems from accusations that Special Counsel Jack Smith collected phone data on GOP senators as part of his January 6 investigation – Smith has clarified he did not tap phones, only accessed call logs.

“You said earlier that you would repeal that FBI provision that’s in the bill right now. Do you have assurances from Leader Thune that he will bring it up in the Senate?” asked a reporter on Wednesday night.

“Well, I did call Leader Thune this morning. I want to say that he is a principled leader. I’ve enjoyed working with him. We’ve got a great working relationship and a good friendship. He’s a trustworthy, honest broker. And that’s why I was so surprised when we found out about that provision,” Johnson replied, adding:

It was put in our clean CR at the last moment. I’m just being honest. I’m very transparent with you. I was very angry about it. I was. And a lot of my members called me and said, “Did you know about it?” 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. Many of them are very angry about that. So we will be bringing that up. We’ll probably pass it on suspension early next week, and we’ll send it over to the Senate.

I had a conversation with Leader Thune early this morning about it. I think he regretted the way it was done, and we had an honest conversation about that. I didn’t ask him for any commitment at that time, because I had a lot on my plate today, and I’ve been busy ever since that conversation we had early this morning, but I’m going to speak as truthfully to him as I am to all of you and tell you that I think that was way out of line.

I don’t think that was a smart thing to do. I think it was the right thing to do, and the House is going to reverse it. We’re going to repeal that, and I’m going to expect our colleagues in the Senate to do the same thing.

Watch the clip above via CSPAN.

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