Both HoR and Senate Passes Russia Sanctions Bill, Giving Trump New Tariff Powers

The bipartisan measure targets financing for Russia’s war against Ukraine as attacks intensify. It passed the House over the objections of Democrats who opposed handing President Trump new tariff powers.

· The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill by 262–159, sending it to President Donald Trump, who has indicated he intends to sign it.

· The legislation seeks to cut Russia’s revenues from energy exports that help finance its war against Ukraine.

· A key provision would allow the U.S. president to impose tariffs of up to 100% on countries that are among the largest purchasers of Russian oil or gas or facilitate Russia’s sanctions-evasion network.

· China and India could potentially be affected because they are major purchasers of Russian energy. The measure also targets countries facilitating Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” of vessels used to circumvent restrictions on oil exports.

· The bill would impose additional sanctions on Russian officials, oligarchs and financial institutions.

· It also extends U.S. sanctions on Iran’s energy and weapons sectors for five years, reflecting concerns over growing military cooperation between Russia and Iran.

· The legislation faced opposition from 152 House Democrats, who supported stronger action against Russia but objected to giving the president additional tariff authority.

· Opponents argued that the new tariff powers could be used more broadly than Congress intended and could increase costs for U.S. consumers and businesses.

· Supporters argued that tariffs are necessary because existing sanctions have not sufficiently reduced Russia’s energy revenues and that tariffs could pressure major buyers to reduce purchases from Moscow.

· The bill provides an exemption for certain countries dependent on Russian natural gas if they are taking significant steps to reduce that dependence.

· The legislation follows its overwhelming Senate approval last month after negotiations between Congress and the Trump administration.

· The House vote comes amid intensifying fighting in Ukraine, including increased Russian attacks on transportation and energy infrastructure.

[ABS News Service/17.09.2026]

The House on Wednesday (16.09.2026) passed sweeping legislation intended to squeeze the financial lifelines sustaining Russia’s war against Ukraine, overcoming more than a year of resistance to send President Trump a measure that would slap tough new sanctions on Moscow and extend them against Iran.

The centerpiece of the measure would attack Russia’s energy sector, which has financed the assault on Ukraine. It would allow the president to impose tariffs of as much as 100 percent on countries, including China and India, that are among the top five purchasers of Russian oil or gas, and the top facilitators of the so-called shadow fleet of vessels used to evade restrictions on Russia’s oil exports.

Named for Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who died in July after spending more than a year building support for the bill, it would also impose sanctions on Russian officials, oligarchs and financial institutions.

It was approved 262 to 159, clearing it for Mr. Trump, who has signaled he will sign it. Despite the strong bipartisan backing for punishing Russia, 152 Democrats opposed the legislation, contending that it gave too much new tariff authority to a president who has already gone around Congress repeatedly on trade matters.

The legislation includes a five-year extension of sanctions targeting Iran’s energy and weapons sectors, a reflection of the concern in Congress over the close military relationship between Moscow and Tehran.

Its final passage capped a turbulent journey through Congress for the bill, led by Mr. Graham and Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut. They first began the sanctions effort early last year and encountered early resistance from Mr. Trump, who did not want to allow Congress to tie his hands on dealing with Russia.

Before his death, Mr. Graham had been the key intermediary between Capitol Hill and the White House as officials in Washington debated competing approaches to economically isolating Russia. Mr. Graham secured the administration’s backing shortly before his death, clearing the way for the Senate to overwhelmingly approve the legislation last month.

Still, its path through the House also proved to be complicated.

Some Democrats who have been among Ukraine’s most vocal supporters balked at the tariff provisions, particularly after the Supreme Court curtailed some of Mr. Trump’s previous efforts to impose tariffs without explicit authorization from Congress. They warned that the president could use the new trade powers more broadly than Congress intended.

Representative Gregory W. Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said on Wednesday that Congress should instead provide Ukraine with additional military and humanitarian assistance while tightening restrictions on the president’s ability to waive sanctions.

“We can support Ukraine. We can hold Russia accountable,” Mr. Meeks said. “And we can protect the American people from higher costs.”

Supporters countered that the legislation explicitly restricts the new tariff authority to countries purchasing Russian energy or facilitating sanctions evasion, and maintained that the tariffs were essential because previous penalties had failed to sufficiently choke off Moscow’s energy revenues. The measure includes an exemption for certain countries that rely on Russian natural gas but are taking significant steps to reduce their dependence.

Representative Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas and one of the bill’s leading proponents, said the tariffs were “the teeth of this bill,” intended to force major buyers of Russian energy to choose between continued purchases from Moscow and access to the American market.

“You can evade sanctions, which the Russians have done for years, but you cannot evade tariffs,” Mr. McCaul said, recounting advice he said he had received from a Ukrainian sanctions expert during a recent trip to Kyiv.

That argument ultimately persuaded lawmakers in both parties.

Representative French Hill, Republican of Arkansas and the chairman of the Financial Services Committee, said the measure could have been better designed and warned that its tariffs could harm American trading partners. Still, he urged passage, saying that Congress needed to send “a loud, resounding message to the Kremlin.”

Representative Steny H. Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland and another key negotiator, made a similar case. Mr. Trump, he said, already claimed expansive tariff authority, while the legislation before Congress specifically directed economic pressure toward countries helping sustain Russia’s war.

“This is something we can do,” Mr. Hoyer said.

The vote came as the fighting in Ukraine has intensified and Russia has increasingly struck the transportation and energy infrastructure.

On Sunday, a Russian drone struck a passenger train near the Polish border, shortly after a train carrying former Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain and other European officials had traveled through the area. The former C.I.A. director David Petraeus was at the station when the drone hit. No deaths were reported, and it was unclear whether the rail station was the intended target of the strike. Russia said it was targeting infrastructure used to transport military cargo from Europe.

“They just bombed the train that goes from Kyiv to Warsaw,” said Mr. McCaul. “We do not have time to wait.”