Senate advances Lindsey Graham’s final Russia sanctions push
The Senate took a major step Tuesday toward passing new Russia sanctions, advancing a bill named for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham just hours after his funeral.
Senators voted 86-12 to move the package, clearing the way for a possible final vote later this week. The bill has more than 60 co-sponsors and broad bipartisan support, but its path through the House is less certain after lawmakers left for August recess.
Lawmakers renamed the legislation for Graham, the South Carolina Republican who spent more than a year pushing tougher financial penalties on Moscow.
The package would impose sanctions on Russian leaders, Russia’s energy sector and its so-called shadow fleet of ships used to circumvent Western sanctions.
It would also allow the Trump administration to impose tariffs of up to 100% on the five largest purchasers of Russian oil and natural gas, according to The Washington Post.
Supporters say the goal is to pressure countries buying Russian energy and make it harder for Moscow to fund its war in Ukraine.
The bill also extends certain Iran sanctions, a late addition requested by the Trump administration.
How Graham pushed it forward
Graham and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., spent more than a year working on the legislation.
The negotiations repeatedly stalled as the White House sought broader authority for Trump to decide how sanctions would be applied. Some Democrats were also uneasy about expanding Trump’s tariff powers after his wider use of tariffs.
The revised version expands mandatory sanctions on Russian entities while giving Trump broad waiver authority.
Graham announced from Kyiv days before his death that he had secured White House support for the revised bill. Blumenthal told The Washington Post that Graham called him afterward and said, “This is a big effing deal. We all did good.”
Why Ukraine is watching
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed senators Tuesday after attending Graham’s funeral and before the vote.
Zelenskyy called the legislation a “big signal” of U.S. support for Ukraine and Europe.
Supporters say the bill sends a strong signal of support for Kyiv as Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its fifth year. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the vote would show Russian President Vladimir Putin that “he can’t bully Ukraine” and that the U.S. “stands by” its ally.
The fight over tariff power
The bill still faces opposition from some Democrats, largely over its tariff provisions.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called the bill a “Trojan horse for tariff authorities” that Trump had “repeatedly abused.”
Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., also warned it would be dangerous to give Trump major new tariff powers.
Despite those objections, most Senate Democrats voted to advance the bill. Only 11 Democrats and Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky voted no.
What remains uncertain
The Senate is widely expected to pass the bill, but the House timeline is unclear.
Questions also remain about whether the sanctions would be enough to change Russia’s behavior. Richard Connolly, a Russian economy expert at the Royal United Services Institute, told The Washington Post that major buyers of Russian oil could refuse to comply or turn to the black market.
Blumenthal acknowledged the bill was not perfect but argued it represented a rare foreign policy win in a divided Congress.
“It’s not the end. It may not even be the beginning of the end,” Blumenthal said. “But Putin no longer seems invulnerable.”
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
