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Lawmakers call Senate'tucked "payola" provision unconstitutional and ethically suspect
Summary
Members of the Rules Committee from both parties condemned a Senate'inserted provision that could create retroactive private claims and statutory damages tied to 'senate data' seizures, warning it could funnel large taxpayer payouts to individual senators and raise constitutional and equal-protection problems.
During the Rules Committee hearing on the Senate amendment to H.R. 5371, multiple members and witnesses called out a provision in the Senate text that would allow "centers" or Senate offices to bring civil actions and seek statutory damages if certain legislative-branch records were acquired without notice.
Representative Joe Raskin called the provision "one of the most blatantly corrupt" items he had seen and said the language appeared to create retroactive rights to statutory damages of at least $500,000 per violation, with additional statutory triggers that could push the award to…
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