Senate riders create $500,000 phone-record shield for members swept up in Jan. 6 subpoenas

On Nov. 12, 2025, senators quietly added language to the shutdown-ending bill that lets members of Congress sue the Justice Department for at least $500,000 if prosecutors seized their phone or data records without giving them notice. The clause applies retroactively to investigations like the January 6 probe and only protects lawmakers, even though ordinary people caught up in the same subpoenas do not get special warnings or payouts. Once the provision surfaced, House members who had no role in the deal blasted it as a back-room shield that treats elected officials as a separate class under the law.