Senate preparing to vote on Russia sanctions next week
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Sen. Jeanne Shaheen arrives for a hearing on Capitol Hill on June 2. Photo: Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Democrats are indicating to their Republican counterparts that they are prepared to vote as early as next week on a Russia sanctions package that includes an 11th-hour demand from President Trump that the bill also include Iran, according to people familiar with the matter.
Why it matters: It would mark a rare bipartisan breakthrough on legislation to help end the war in Ukraine in a Senate that has spent much of the year engaged in partisan combat.
- It also would show that Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y) can work together weeks before Election Day — a dynamic that could prove critical as the Senate works to avoid a third government shutdown this year.
Tuesday's Capitol memorial for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) will serve as an emotional backdrop to the Senate's consideration of the bill he spent his final days trying to shepherd across the finish line.
- "I'm optimistic we'll be able to move forward soon," Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said.
- "Ukraine has the momentum on the battlefield, and the Kremlin's position is increasingly precarious. It is vital that we move as quickly as possible."
Zoom out: The bill, which has more than 60 cosponsors, has been revised twice since Graham's sudden passing on July 11.
- First, senators lowered the overall rate of secondary tariffs from 500% to 100% and narrowed the scope of the bill, allowing Trump to tariff no more than five countries.
- In one of his last acts, Graham secured the Trump administration's blessing for the deal, according to his Senate colleagues.
'This is a big effing deal," Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said, quoting Graham.
- Then, on July 19, Trump demanded that the legislation be expanded.
- "Republicans should add Iran to the Russian Sanctions Bill. That's what Lindsey wanted to do, and it was going to happen," he said on Truth Social.
Zoom in: At first, there was confusion about what Trump actually meant, but senators appear to have addressed his concerns by including noncontroversial sanctions on Iran that were set to expire at the end of the year.
- On Thursday, Thune indicated that his conference was comfortable with the Iran additions.
- "I think everybody's fine with it, because we would do it anyway," Thune said.
The other side: Some Democrats oppose the overall notion of giving Trump another tool to impose tariffs. They may attempt to slow consideration of the bill, but they don't have the numbers to derail it.
- "The problem with the Russian sanction bill — because I very much support Ukraine — is that Trump is doing everything he can to just expand his reach into tariffs, and that's what he lives for," said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
- "I think Leader Thune is getting ready to start moving procedurally. People have asked me, and I said I'm not giving up any procedural rights right now."
The bottom line: Thune and Schumer still need to reach a time agreement on the sanctions legislation.
- But with Thune indicating the crypto bill — the CLARITY Act — won't get finished this work period, the Senate may have more floor time to consider the legislation and pay tribute to their late colleague.
