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jamie raskin
Lindsey Graham Vows to Cash In On GOP Spending Bill's 'Million-Dollar Jackpot'
"Hard not to see this as a corrupt politician collecting on his legislatively permitted bribe," said one Democratic lawmaker.
Nov 13, 2025
While critics fumed at the prospect of Republican US senators suing to collect $1 million or more each in taxpayer money as part of a bizarre provision slipped into the government funding bill, one senior GOP lawmaker said Wednesday that he's all in on the proposal—and won't stop at a mere million.
Tucked away in the Senate plan to end the longest federal government shutdown in US history is legislation compelling telecommunications companies to notify lawmakers if their phone records were subjected to seizure as part of former Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation into President Donald Trump’s role in the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection and effort to illegally remain in power after losing the 2020 election.
The bill allows senators who were not informed that their records were accessed to sue the government for $500,000 each time their data was subpoenaed or reviewed without notification. Just eight Republican senators would qualify.
Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) slammed the proposal as a "million-dollar jackpot" paid for by taxpayers.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) also weighed in, saying on the House floor Wednesday that "it is unconscionable that what we are debating right now is legislation that will give eight senators over $1 million a piece and we are robbing people of their food assistance and of their healthcare to pay for it."
"How is this even on the floor?" she asked before the House sent the bill to Trump's desk. "How can we vote to enrich ourselves by stealing from the American people?"
AOC: "It is unconscionable that what we are debating right now is legislation that will give 8 senators over $1 million a piece and we are robbing people of their food assistance and of their healthcare to pay for it. How is this even on the floor? How can we vote to enrich… pic.twitter.com/eYCJKLlJx6
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 12, 2025
However, on Wednesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) embraced the proposal.
"Oh, definitely," Graham replied when asked if he would sue. "And if you think I'm going to settle this thing for a million dollars? No. I want to make it so painful, no one ever does this again."
“If I’m subject to a criminal investigation, then the rules apply to me like they would any other citizen, but this wasn’t about investigating me or other senators for a crime. It’s a fishing expedition,” Graham asserted. “It will also cover any Democrats in this Senate this term that may have something happened to them."
But Democrats—and many Republicans—have expressed staunch opposition to the proposal, with Congressman Gabe Amo (D-RI) writing on X, "Hard not to see this as a corrupt politician collecting on his legislatively permitted bribe."
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) called the provision "a really bad look."
At least one GOP House lawmaker has vowed to vote against the continuing resolution unless the provision is rescinded:
However, the proposal was not removed, and Steube was one of 209 House lawmakers who voted against the bill—which passed with 222 "yes" votes and was subsequently signed by Trump.
Raskin ripped Graham on X Thursday, saying, "Sir, you were treated like every other American who gets caught up in a massive criminal event or conspiracy."
"Do you now want to ban all grand jury subpoenas of phone records," he added, "or just vote yourself a million-dollar taxpayer jackpot because you got one and you think senators should have special privileges over everyone else?"
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Raskin Sounds Alarm Over 'Million-Dollar Jackpot Provision' Snuck Into Senate Shutdown Bill
"One of the most blatantly corrupt provisions for political self-dealing and the plunder of public resources ever proposed."
Nov 12, 2025
House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin is calling out Republicans in the US Senate for slipping into their government funding bill a provision that would let eight GOP senators personally each rake in an extra $1 million in taxpayer money.
As reported by The Hill, the provision allows Republican senators whose data was obtained without their knowledge during former special counsel Jack Smith's investigation to sue the FBI.
"The provision, which is retroactive to 2022, only applies to members of the Senate and would allow them to sue for $500,000 if data was sought without their being notified, as well as once it was obtained," noted The Hill.
Raskin (D-Md.) responded by blasting the "million-dollar jackpot provision" in the Senate bill as "one of the most blatantly corrupt provisions for political self-dealing and the plunder of public resources ever proposed."
Raskin also contrasted Republican senators giving themselves the ability to score a quick $1 million with the economic uncertainty and anxiety facing the American people.
"If it were to pass, this astounding provision would give eight Republican senators a personal payday of at least one million dollars each paid for directly by US taxpayers," he said. "This jackpot is being set up at the same time Republicans throw millions of Americans off Medicaid and deny millions more a tax credit that helps make premiums for health insurance more affordable."
Raskin also shot down claims by the senators that law enforcement officials had violated their rights to privacy during Smith's probe, which sought Republican senators' phone records as part of his investigation into President Donald Trump's efforts to illegally remain in power after losing the 2020 presidential election.
"To be clear, there was no ‘phone tap’ or eavesdropping on the content of their conversations," he said. "The call records subpoenaed were the kind of information you see on a phone bill—a list of calls made and received."
Raskin wasn't the only House Democrat to blast the provision slipped into the funding bill. During a contentious House Rules Committee meeting on Tuesday, Rep. Joe Neguse (R-Colo.) called the provision "deeply insidious" and pushed an amendment to strip it from the legislation ahead of a vote in the House later this week.
"I think it is outrageous for these Republican senators to effectively guarantee themselves million-dollar paydays!" he said. "A retroactive provision in this bill that very clearly applies to them. The removal of all relevant immunity defenses on the part of the United States government. This is insanity to allow this provision to go forward, and I would hope that my Republican colleagues would join us in supporting the removal of this provision."
Neguse: I think it is outrageous for these Republican senators to effectively guarantee themselves million-dollar paydays, a provision in this bill that very clearly applies to them. The removal of all relevant immunity defenses on the part of the United States government. This… pic.twitter.com/ukmEnybcd7
— Acyn (@Acyn) November 12, 2025
Democrats weren't the only congresspeople who criticized the provision, as Reps. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) and Chip Roy (R-Texas) also said that it should be removed, although they both expressed concern that doing so would prolong the government shutdown.
"I personally agree this should removed," Scott said, according to HuffPost reporter Igor Bobic. "The problem is if we remove it, it has to go back to the Senate. I’ve struggled with what to do."
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‘Why Do You Continue Unlawfully Detaining US Citizens?’ Democratic Lawmakers Ask ICE
"This administration’s failure to investigate or even acknowledge that these indiscriminate immigration raids are canceling the rights of US citizens is dangerous."
Oct 21, 2025
Days after new reporting revealed that at least 170 US citizens are among those who have been detained by federal immigration agents under the Trump administration, which Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal called "absolutely shocking," the Washington Democrat joined Rep. Jamie Raskin in demanding answers from top homeland security officials on the report.
Jayapal and Raskin (D-Md.) noted that they previously wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons in February, just weeks into President Donald Trump's second term, when the detention of US citizens ensnared in Trump's mass deportation operation was already raising alarm.
At that point, NBC News had reported on the detentions of US citizens including Native tribe members, which raised concerns about racial profiling—but in their Monday letter to Noem and Lyons, Jayapal and Raskin said the response they got in February was "flippant and unserious," with the officials simply reiterating existing policies that prohibit ICE from detaining US citizens—"without providing any assurance" that agents were "actually following that policy."
"This administration cannot hide behind a broad policy statement, as it continues to unlawfully detain US citizens as part of indiscriminate immigration raids," wrote Jayapal and Raskin.
The lawmakers emphasized that numerous arrests of US citizens by ICE and other immigration agents have been violent.
Raskin and Jayapal drew attention to four specific cases, including those of:
- Rodrick Johnson, a 67-year-old man who was dragged out of his apartment in Chicago by immigration agents who zip-tied him after breaking down his door as part of a raid on his building, and then left tied up outside the building for nearly three hours;
- George Retes, who was pepper-sprayed and detained for three days in a raid on a farm where he worked, with agents refusing to look at his ID and then denying him his right to see an attorney or make a phone call;
- Julio Noriega, a 54-year-old man who was handcuffed by ICE officers and loaded into a van while he was handing out copies of his resume to businesses in Berwyn, Illinois; and
- Leonardo Garcia Venegas, who was arrested twice during worksite raids in Alabama, even after showing agents his REAL ID that proved his US citizenship.
Other cases not mentioned in the letter include those of Job Garcia, a photographer who was tackled and held on the ground by ICE agents during a raid at a Home Depot in Los Angeles and then detained for more than 24 hours, and Debbie Brockman, a news producer in Chicago who was handcuffed by agents who accused her of throwing an object at them, and then hauled into an unmarked vehicle that crashed into another car as it sped away—only to be released later that day with no charges.
Raskin and Jayapal accused Noem and Lyons of overseeing a "lawless 'detain first, ask questions later' approach to immigration
enforcement" that is "terrorizing communities across the country."
"Masked, armed agents are snatching people on the street and refusing to identify themselves," said the lawmakers. "US citizens are now afraid to speak Spanish in public and are carrying their passports everywhere they go. This administration’s failure to investigate or even acknowledge that these indiscriminate immigration raids are canceling the rights of US citizens is dangerous."
Jayapal and Raskin demanded that Noem and Lyons provide an accounting of all the US citizens who have been detained with their identities, the length of time they were held, and their criminal records if they had any—which, according to an analysis by the CATO Institute in June, a majority of people arrested by ICE this year have not.
"We once again demand that you immediately provide a full accounting of all cases in which US citizens have been detained since January 20, 2025," said the Democrats, "and explain any concrete steps your agencies are implementing to prevent such abuses from continuing."
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