Two House Democrats sided with Republicans Monday to push a sweeping Russia sanctions bill through the Rules Committee, clearing the way for a floor vote later this week over the objections of Democratic leadership.
Here is what actually happened: the bill, named for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, had to clear the Rules Committee before reaching the House floor. Republicans hold the majority there, but the crossover votes gave the move bipartisan cover at a moment when top House Democrats were publicly campaigning against the bill.
The legislation itself is straightforward, even if the politics around it are not. It would let President Trump impose tariffs as high as 100% on the five biggest buyers of Russian oil or natural gas. China and India top that list. The goal is to choke off the money Russia earns selling energy and use that pressure to push Vladimir Putin toward ending the war in Ukraine.
The bill also hits Russia directly. It sanctions Putin and his senior officials, major Russian banks including the Central Bank, Sberbank and Gazprombank, and Russian state-owned companies. It targets foreign firms helping Russia’s military industry and goes after Moscow’s shadow fleet, the aging tankers that move sanctioned oil around Western restrictions by hiding where it came from.
There is a review built in. Every 180 days, the list of targeted countries gets reassessed. A country importing less than 15% of Russia’s total natural gas exports, and actively cutting that further, would be exempt from the tariffs.
The bill carries Graham’s name because he spent more than a year pushing it before he died July 11 at 71 from a suspected aortic tear. His sister, Darline Graham, was appointed to his Senate seat and became the lead author of the final version. The Senate passed it 86-11 in August, one of the most lopsided bipartisan votes of the year.
The House has been a different story. Top House Democrats, including Reps. Gregory Meeks, Richard Neal and Don Beyer, along with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, have argued the bill hands Trump too much tariff authority and could raise prices for Americans while failing to mandate sanctions on Russia. Republican leadership had actually dropped the bill from the agenda and planned an early recess, but brought it back to the Rules Committee as an emergency measure.
That is what makes Monday’s vote notable. Even as party leaders pushed back publicly, two Democrats broke ranks on the committee, a signal the bill may find more support on the floor than its critics are letting on.
Timing is tight. This is likely the last chance the House gets to act before the midterm elections, since lawmakers are set to spend the rest of September and October back home campaigning. A floor vote could come as soon as later this week.
JBizNews Desk | Washington
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