Congress passes sweeping US sanctions bill targeting Russia

The United States House of Representatives has passed a bipartisan sanctions bill targeting Russia over its continued war in Ukraine.

Lawmakers on Wednesday voted to send the sweeping legislation, championed by the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, to US President Donald Trump’s desk, ending more than a year of delays and obstacles. The final vote was 262 to 159. It had already passed in the US Senate.

The much-anticipated bill would give the president new abilities to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on countries, like China and India, that import energy supplies from Russia, allowing Washington to further restrict funds sent to Moscow. The measure would also impose sanctions on Russian officials, banks and a shadow fleet of tankers that keeps Russian energy moving.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pushing for the bill’s passage and made a direct appeal to senators shortly before they passed it last month.

Fifty-eight Democrats bucked their party’s leadership and joined with a majority of Republicans to pass it.

The Democratic Party has overwhelmingly supported Ukraine in the war. However, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries opposed the bill, citing new tariff authorities given to the White House that could be used to exploit US allies.

“The manner in which this bill has been written doesn’t require the president of the United States to impose sanctions on Russia,” Jeffries said on the House floor Wednesday. “In fact, there are so many loopholes written into the bill, I believe, that it’s very unlikely that the sanctions relief contemplated in the legislation will ever see the light of day.”

The bill marks the first time in more than two years the US Congress has passed legislation supporting Ukraine. Graham, after whom the bill was named following his sudden death in July, had helped negotiate Trump’s support for it.