Senate Republicans aren’t standing down in their investigation into the tactics Biden-era special counsel Jack Smith deployed as part of his probe into President Donald Trump’s efforts to subvert the 2020 presidential election results.

Still smarting from recent revelations Smith obtained phone records for several GOP members of Congress around the time of the Jan. 6, 2021 attacks on the Capitol, Republican senators gathered Wednesday to announce the release of nearly 200 subpoenas Smith issued as part of his inquiry.

Smith’s team requested communications with media companies — including conservative stalwarts Fox News and Newsmax — and correspondences with senior White House advisers — like Stephen Miller and Dan Scavino. Investigators sought information regarding fundraising and financial data for conservatives and conservative groups.

Calling the Smith investigation worse than the 1970s political scandal that followed the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters and ultimately toppled Richard Nixon, GOP senators at their press conference demanded accountability for the former Biden administration.

“We should have Watergate style hearings on this for months,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.). “If we’re ever going to root this out, we have to be serious about it, and consequences have to follow: resignations, firings, criminal prosecutions. You simply can’t in this country use the justice system to throw people in jail because they have a red jersey on or a blue jersey on.”

Trump has come under fire for politicizing the Justice Department and encouraging Attorney General Pam Bondi to go after his adversaries. In recent weeks, New York Attorney General Letitia James — who brought a civil fraud case against the president — was indicted for mortgage fraud; former FBI director James Comey was charged with lying to Congress; and former national security adviser John Bolton was accused of mishandling classified documents.

But Trump and allies are casting Smith’s investigation as an example of the political weaponization of President Joe Biden’s DOJ.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), the chair of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, argued that the massive trove of documents revealed a “Biden administration enemies list.” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) accused D.C. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg of printing subpoenas at Smith’s behest “like the placemats at Denny’s, one after the other.”

Senators also suggested the House should consider impeaching Boasberg, renewing calls for the judge’s removal for ruling against the president in a deportation case earlier this year.

Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who is running point on the Smith investigation alongside Johnson, called the special counsel’s investigation “the vehicle by which FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors could improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus.”

In a statement, Lanny Breuer, a lawyer for Smith, reiterated that the former special counsel was open to sharing details of his investigation with Congress.

“As we informed congressional leaders last week, Jack is happy to discuss his work as Special Counsel and answer any questions at a public hearing just like every other Special Counsel investigating a president before him has done,” Breuer said. “We hope the House and Senate Judiciary Committees will agree so the American people can hear directly from him. Name the time and place. Jack will be there.”

The Senate on Wednesday shot down legislation to stop a Biden-era plan encouraging the killing of one species of owl to save another.

The fight became bitter at times, pitting Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy against some of his colleagues and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who support the killings.

Kennedy forced a vote on a resolution under the Congressional Review Act to nix a Fish and Wildlife Service plan to save the native and critically endangered northern spotted owl in the Pacific Northwest by killing non-native barred owls. The legislation failed 25-72.

“I can’t think of a rule … that better demonstrates the arrogance, the hubris, of the federal administrative state,” Kennedy said from the Senate floor before the vote, flanked by posters of owls and the rifle-carrying cartoon character Elmer Fudd. “This regulation is stupid and we will live to regret it.”

The Congressional Review Act makes it easier for lawmakers to undo administration actions. Republicans have used it repeatedly against Biden rules.

Kennedy said Burgum called him last week urging the senator to withdraw his resolution. Kennedy refused, saying the secretary should “call somebody who cared what he thought.”

Kennedy in recent days repeatedly deployed his signature rhetorical barbs against Burgum and the Biden rule. He described the barred owl as having “very soulful eyes” and said Burgum was “mad as a mama wasp.” Kennedy also said the administration was using DEI for owls.

The Trump administration is supporting the Biden-era action under pressure from loggers, who say scrapping the owl-killing rule could affect existing land-use plans — and, in turn, jeopardize GOP efforts to increase logging.

Advocates have been split. Some animal rights advocates have sided with Kennedy, while other environmentalists have pointed to protecting the endangered spotted owl.

Similar divisions were evident among senators and went well beyond party lines.

“Killing a half-billion owls seems like a crazy thing for the government to be doing,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who voted for Kennedy’s resolution.

But Environment and Public Works Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who voted against it, observed, “The Trump administration agrees with the Biden administration on this — how rare is that on this strategy? We’ve heard a lot from timber and some other folks.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday he expects to meet soon with a group of rank-and-file House Democrats about ending the 29-day-and-counting government shutdown.

If the meeting happens, it would be a rare bipartisan gathering involving a top party leader. So far this month, Thune and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have not met to discuss an exit path to the shutdown, leaving it to a small group of dealmaking members who have engaged in informal, on-and-off talks.

Those conversations have heated up in recent days, members of both parties say, as major ramifications bear down including the possible lapse of federal food aid for 42 million Americans.

“They’re looking for an off-ramp,” Thune told reporters.

“What I told them all along is, as soon as they’re ready to open up the government, that we will ensure that they have a process whereby they can have the chance to get their legislation voted on, their policies voted on,” he added. “I think they’ve become more interested, and I hope that’s continues.”

Thune made his comments after participating in an angry floor exchange with Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, who sought to pass a patch for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by unanimous consent.

The normally mild-mannered South Dakota Republican boiled over at points as he lambasted Democrats over what he called a “cynical” ploy to extend food assistance without fully reopening the government.

“You all have just figured out 29 days in that there might be some consequences,” he yelled.

Thune tried to offer the House-passed continuing resolution instead, but Luján objected, and Thune ultimately blocked the legislation.

“Sorry I channeled a little bit of anger there,” Thune told reporters leaving the floor, saying that allowing the SNAP patch to pass would extend the shutdown “another two or three weeks.”