US lawmakers clash over bill expanding Trump's power to sanction Russia
The US House of Representatives is set to vote this week on a bill that would grant President Trump new tariff powers against Russia and its trading partners, but the measure faces resistance from both Republicans and Democrats.
A bill co-authored by the late senator Lindsey Graham, who died earlier this year, is heading for a vote in the US House this week, aiming to give President Trump broad new authority to impose tariffs on Russia and countries trading with it. The bill cleared the House rules committee on Monday, with a procedural vote set for Tuesday and a full vote expected Wednesday.
The legislation would target Russia's energy and defense sectors as well as its so-called "shadow fleet" of tankers used to evade existing oil sanctions. It would empower Trump to impose 100% tariffs on major buyers of Russian oil, including China and India.
The bill faces pushback from Ukraine-sceptic Republicans and from senior Democrats, including representatives Gregory Meeks, Don Beyer and Richard Neal, who argue that expanding presidential tariff powers could be misused against US allies and raise prices for Americans, while not mandating sanctions on Russia itself. Critics have accused some opposing Democrats of resisting handing Trump a political win ahead of the midterm elections.
Democrats are reportedly negotiating an amendment that would limit secondary sanctions to roughly ten countries — a list including China, India, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Singapore, Slovakia and the United Arab Emirates.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday urged the US to increase economic pressure on Russia, noting the bill has not yet become law. Ukraine's veterans affairs minister, Vitaly Kim, said economic pressure remains the fastest path to ending the war. Trump is understood to have given congressional Republicans approval to move the bill forward, ending a deadlock that had persisted for more than two years.
