‘Slush fund’: Bill that ended government shutdown also allows US senators to get half $1 million

“This is real-time corruption that’s on full display,” said U.S. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of the tucked-away provision.

Tucked away inside the bill signed by President Donald Trump to reopen the federal government on Wednesday is a provision that could make some U.S. senators $500,000 richer.

After signing the “Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026” in the Oval Office on Wednesday night, Trump vowed that, with the government reopened, Congress would “continue our work to lower the cost of living, restore public safety, grow our economy, and make America affordable again for all Americans.”

But Democrats point to a clandestine provision in the 394-page bill that they say shows the Republican Party is yet again benefiting the rich and the powerful.

According to the text of the bill that is now law, U.S. senators may seek up to $500,000 in statutory damages if their phone records are subpoenaed without their knowledge. There are eight Republican senators whose phone records were subpoenaed by former Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith as part of the investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. 

Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the U.S. House, blasted the provision, calling it a “multi-million-dollar slush fund.”

“[They] apparently believe they’re part of the House of Lords, because that’s something that would be done if you think you’re a Lord, not someone who is subject to the rule of law,” Jeffries said during a House Rules Committee debate on the bill to reopen the government.

“This is real-time corruption that’s on full display,” said the Democratic leader, who suggested the provision was hypocritical given Republicans couldn’t “find a dime to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for working class Americans, middle class Americans, and everyday Americans.”

“It’s shocking, and it speaks for itself, and the American people are going to reject it,” he said.

Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the eight Republicans who stand to benefit from the provision, said he would “definitely” take advantage of the amended law to seek compensation. “And if you think I won’t settle this thing for $1 million…,” he told reporters in South Carolina on Wednesday.

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., rebuked Republicans for voting to “enrich” themselves while millions of Americans are at risk of losing their health insurance and will see skyrocketing premiums if Republicans don’t negotiate with Democrats to extend Obamacare tax credit subsidies.

“It is unconscionable…and we are robbing people of their food assistance and of their health care to pay for it,” said the congresswoman.

“God forbid that we have a member of the Republican caucus who stands up and actually wants to extend the…Affordable Care Act so that people with cancer, insulin and issues across all sorts of health care issues across this country, have their health insurance protected and extended throughout 2026.”

Republican U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who was “frustrated” with Senate Republicans for sneaking the provision into the government funding bill, said he would hold a standalone vote to strip it from the funding bill, reports ABC News.

“We are going to repeal that, and I’m going to expect our colleagues in the Senate to do the same thing,” said Johnson.