John Rose Slams Senate “Phone Records Payout” Provision During Shutdown Vote

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. John Rose, R-Cookeville, spoke on the House floor Wednesday to oppose a Senate-added clause in the government-funding bill that would allow U.S. senators to sue the federal government for damages related to the FBI’s surveillance of lawmakers during the “Arctic Frost” probe.

The provision, which appeared in the Senate’s version of the shutdown-ending package, would authorize individual senators to seek financial restitution if their communications were accessed without a warrant. As reported earlier by TNPOLITICO, the language was added after revelations that federal investigators monitored the phone records of several members of Congress during the Justice Department’s national security inquiry.

Rose, who is also running for governor of Tennessee in 2026 against Sen. Marsha Blackburn, said the clause amounts to financial gain off illegal government surveillance.

He told colleagues that the American taxpayer “has suffered enough because of the last administration” and argued that “no one in this body should support allowing senators to sue and collect from taxpayers because the FBI went rogue under President Biden.”

Calling the shutdown “completely avoidable” and “carried out for political purposes,” Rose said he supports ongoing investigations into surveillance abuses but believes it would be “shameful” to make taxpayers pay potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars to senators who were monitored. He added that Tennesseans are already burdened by inflation, the border crisis, and regulatory costs from the previous administration.