Key Takeaways:
A bipartisan push to sanction Russia faces Democratic resistance over fears the bill would grant President Donald Trump unchecked tariff authority.
Three senior Democrats are opposing a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill, arguing the measure would hand President Donald Trump tariff powers they say he has abused, complicating plans for a quick Senate vote.
"It is extremely dangerous to give Trump massive new tariff powers, particularly after we've seen the disastrous impacts of his corrupt, chaotic, and inflationary tariff spree," Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon and Representative Richard Neal of Massachusetts said in a joint statement.
The Sanctioning Russia Act 2026, unveiled Tuesday, would authorize the president to impose tariffs of as much as 100% on the top five purchasers of Russian energy — led by China and India, which together buy about 90% of Russia's oil and gas exports — and on countries facilitating sanctions evasion. The bill includes exemptions for European allies and Japan. The Supreme Court in February struck down the bulk of Trump's earlier emergency tariffs, ruling his use of an emergency statute to remake global trade was unlawful.
The Democratic opposition threatens to slow a bill that gained momentum as a tribute to the late Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who died suddenly Saturday night after securing White House support. Russian oil and gas exports account for the vast majority of the revenue Moscow uses to fund its war in Ukraine, making the legislation a critical tool for Kyiv's supporters.
Representative Gregory Meeks of New York, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called the bill a "Trojan horse for tariff authorities he has repeatedly abused." Meeks urged colleagues to instead support his Ukraine Support Act, which passed the House in June with 18 Republican votes.
Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, who co-sponsored the original bill with Graham, defended the tariff provisions as "narrow" and said he believes the Senate has the 60 votes needed to advance the legislation. "This bill has been negotiated over almost two years, painstakingly, sometimes painfully, at great length," Blumenthal told reporters Tuesday.
The bill's supporters say the revised version addresses earlier concerns. The original proposal would have applied a blanket 500% tariff to more than 60 countries. The current version targets only the top five purchasers of Russian crude oil and the top five purchasers of Russian natural gas, with a ceiling of 100%. Countries that import less than 15% of Russia's total natural gas exports and are taking steps to reduce those imports would be exempt.
A Tribute Complicated by Tariff Fears
Graham spent the week before his death reaching a breakthrough with Trump and traveling to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Senator Katie Britt of Alabama said Graham was "overjoyed" when Trump gave the nod to move forward. "He believed this would have the largest impact, would make the biggest difference," Britt said.
But Wyden told The Hill he is speaking with colleagues who are "torn" between supporting Ukraine and concerns about handing Trump greater authority. The Oregon senator led a successful October vote on a non-binding resolution rebuking Trump's use of tariffs that peeled away four Republican senators. "Trump is increasing his unilateral authority to do anything he wants with tariffs," Wyden warned.
The bill has more than two dozen co-sponsors in the Senate, and aides said the list is growing. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he is "hopeful we can make that happen," while Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called for bringing the bill to the floor immediately "in honor of Lindsey."
Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, a Republican who voted for Meeks' Ukraine legislation, said he is "working on" getting support from House Democrats. But the path forward remains uncertain. Trump on Tuesday suggested adding measures targeting Iran and Hezbollah, a move Blumenthal opposed, saying the president had already approved the current bill.
The last time Congress confronted a similar trade-off between sanctioning an adversary and constraining executive tariff authority was in 2023, when lawmakers debated legislation to normalize trade relations with China. That effort collapsed because of partisan divisions over the scope of presidential trade powers.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
