支出法案是参议院周一晚上推进的一揽子计划的一部分重开政府包括一项条款，该条款将为参议员提供一条起诉政府的法律途径电话记录被调查没有他们的注意。
重要的是，法案中的语言似乎具有追溯力，这意味着八名共和党参议员的电话记录被特别顾问杰克·史密斯传唤，作为他调查川普推翻2020年大选的一部分，他们可能会寻求数十万美元的赔偿。
消息人士告诉ABC新闻，参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩亲自负责将文本添加到法案中。
根据法案文本，如果参议员的电话记录在他们不知情的情况下被传唤，他们可能会寻求高达50万美元的法定损害赔偿。
这种语言是参议院包括在政府资助计划中的三个全年支出法案之一。预计众议院最早将于周三批准该法案。
“任何参议员的参议院数据或其参议院办公室的参议院数据被违反本节的规定获取、传唤、搜索、访问或披露，如果违反行为是由美国或任何联邦部门或机构的官员、雇员或代理人实施的，则可以对美国提起民事诉讼，”该法案写道。
这种语言似乎与一群共和党参议员的抱怨直接相关，他们抱怨史密斯在没有事先通知的情况下传唤了他们的电话记录，作为他对2021年1月6日美国国会大厦袭击事件调查的一部分。
参议院司法委员会主席查克·格拉斯利今年早些时候公布的文件显示，作为史密斯调查的一部分，调查人员在起义当天及其前后访问了共和党参议员林赛·格拉汉姆、比尔·哈格蒂、乔希·霍利、丹·沙利文、汤米·特伯维尔、罗恩·约翰逊、辛西娅·卢米斯和玛莎·布莱克本的电话记录。
上个月，代表史密斯的律师致信格拉斯利，寻求纠正他们所谓的“不准确”的说法，即史密斯在调查中窃听或监视共和党议员。
史密斯的办公室在1月6日前后几天向八名参议员和一名众议员索取了有限的电话收费数据。
虽然这些记录不会涉及任何电话或信息的内容，但委员会中的多名共和党人在第二天的听证会上错误地声称，史密斯“窃听”了他们的电话或“监视”了他们。
该法案可能会为八名参议员开辟一条途径，为史密斯的行为向政府寻求赔偿。
该条款显然不包括众议院议员。众议员迈克·凯利的记录也是史密斯调查的一部分，他没有资格获得赔偿。
参议院财政委员会的民主党领袖罗恩·怀登没有立即回复美国广播公司的置评请求。但怀登告诉《纽约时报》,该条款隐藏在法案中。
怀登在给《泰晤士报》的一份声明中说，如果政府监视他们，每个美国人“都应该有权被告知”，但他补充说，这项法案“对政府监视采取了合理的保护措施，并将其包装在一个不可接受的赠品中，将你的税款交给共和党参议员。”
Provision in government funding bill allows senators to sue over secretly obtained phone records
The spending bill approved as part of the package the Senate advanced Monday night toreopen the governmentincludes a provision that would create a legal pathway for senators to sue the government if theirphone records are investigatedwithout their notice.
What's significant is the language in the bill appears to be retroactive, meaning that the eight Republican senators who had their phone records subpoenaed by special counsel Jack Smith as part of his investigation into Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election could seek hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune was personally responsible for adding the text to the bill, sources told ABC News.
According to the bill text, senators may seek up to $500,000 in statutory damages if their phone records are subpoenaed without their knowledge.
The language is inside one of the three full-year spending bills that the Senate included in its government funding package. The House is expected to approve the bill as soon as Wednesday.
"Any Senator whose Senate data, or the Senate data of whose Senate office, has been acquired, subpoenaed, searched, accessed, or disclosed in violation of this section may bring a civil action against the United States if the violation was committed by an officer, employee, or agent of the United States or of any Federal department or agency," the bill reads.
The language appears to be directly related to complaints by a group of Republican senators that their phone records were subpoenaed without prior notification by Smith as part of his investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley released documents earlier this year suggesting that phone records from Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham, Bill Hagerty, Josh Hawley, Dan Sullivan, Tommy Tuberville, Ron Johnson, Cynthia Lummis and Marsha Blackburn on and around the day of the insurrection had been accessed by investigators as part of Smith's investigation.
Last month, attorneys representing Smith sent a letter to Grassley seeking to correct what they call "inaccurate" claims that Smith wiretapped or spied on Republican lawmakers as part of his investigation.
Smith's office sought limited phone toll data from the eight senators and a member of the House in the days surrounding Jan. 6.
While such records would not involve the content of any phone calls or messages, multiple Republicans on the committee incorrectly claimed at the hearing the next day that Smith had "tapped" their phones or "spied" on them.
The bill would likely open a pathway for the eight senators to seek damages from the government for Smith's action.
The provision notably does not include House members. Rep. Mike Kelly, whose records were also subpoenaed as part of Smith's investigation, would not be eligible for damages.
Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, did not immediately reply to a request for comment from ABC News. But Wyden told the New York Times Times that the provision was hidden in the bill.
Wyden said in a statement to the Times that every American "should have the right to be told if the government spies on them," but added that this bill "takes a reasonable protection against government surveillance and wraps it in an unacceptable giveaway of your tax dollars to Republican senators."
