The Bill to End the Shutdown Is Full of Giveaways to Republicans

Last night, eight Democratic senators relented and voted for a bill to reopen the government without restoring the Affordable Care Act subsidies they had promised to fight for. You might think Donald Trump would appreciate an olive branch, but you'd be wrong. That same night, Trump's Justice Department announced a mass pardon of nearly 80 people involved in Trump's campaign to overturn the 2020 election. This list includes Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and John Eastman.

But that's not the only gift to Republicans who tried to help Trump overturn the 2020 election. The bill includes a measure that would create a slush fund that would allow senators whose phone records were subpoenaed without their knowledge. sue for invasion of privacyfor at least half a million dollars. It's essentially free money for Lindsey Graham, Marsha Blackburn, Bill Hagerty, Josh Hawley, Dan Sullivan, Tommy Tuberville, Ron Johnson and Cynthia Lummis, each of whose metadata was subpoenaed by Jack Smith. (No messages were included.) If they had all won in court, they would have collectively received at least $4 million.

The bill would limit the government's protections against such claims by removing qualified or sovereign immunity as the basis for such a move to challenge a lawsuit on the issue.

At the last minute, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who had called Smith's phone subpoenas “Biden's Watergate,” personally added the provision. “Leader Thune included this in the bill to really challenge the Department of Justice's prohibition on targeting senators,” said Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

“I am furious that the Senate Minority and Majority Leaders decided to include this provision in the bill at the last minute,” New Mexico Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich said in a statement. “That’s exactly what’s wrong with the Senate.” In case you missed it, it's a slap in the face to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who chaired the final negotiations on the package but voted against it. Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, a privacy advocate, nevertheless criticized the provision as “very troubling” for Politician.

Obviously, there are other troubling provisions in this supposed compromise, which, remember, only keep the government open until January. The good news is that it funds SNAP through next year—recipients won't have to worry about losing food benefits during another shutdown in early 2026. Other measures touted as victories—laid-off workers receiving back wages, some laid-off workers returning to their jobs—probably would have been implemented anyway. Senate Democrats did get a promise from Thune to hold a separate vote on restoring ACA subsidies, but there is no guarantee he will do so; even if he does this, it is unlikely to pass; and House Speaker Mike Johnson has already announced that he will not bring the measure to a vote. So this is DOA.

Another problem with the collapse was its timing: It came just days after Democrats won huge electoral victories in Virginia, New Jersey, California, Pennsylvania and Georgia. Schumer reportedly claims he forced Democratic defectors to wait until after the election to avoid dismal turnout (a sign that Democratic leaders knew a defection would be unpopular with their voters). Couldn't he have asked them to wait another week so as not to neglect the Democratic activists who worked so hard for these election victories?

Meanwhile, Zeteo reports Trump officials are celebrating the Democratic Party's capitulation by calling party leaders “losers” and “pussies,” after Trump himself already admitted the shutdown contributed to GOP losses last Tuesday.

The bill must still be passed by the House of Representatives. Is it possible that some Republicans will join outraged Democrats in rejecting the GOP's self-defense in the Senate? Or House GOP leaders will add a similar provision for their members—at least one, Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly, also gave Smith his phone metadata. Anything is possible at Johnson's Circus. The bill could fail for other reasons, although Johnson says he has the votes. We'll find out Wednesday when House members return from their long vacation to vote.