Graham's Russia Sanctions Bill Advances in Senate
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- The Senate passed a procedural vote on the Lindsey Graham Russia sanctions bill, stuck for over a year, and is expected to pass the full chamber with a large bipartisan majority later this week.
- The revised legislation includes a five-year extension of existing 30-year-old Iran sanctions, added to secure Trump's support for the Russia package.
- The bill would codify sanctions on specific Russian banks and companies, making them harder for future administrations to undo, per Atlantic Council analyst Maia Nikoladze.
- The legislation would authorize tariffs of up to 100% on the top five importing countries of Russian oil and natural gas, but most sanctions are discretionary with presidential waiver authority.
- The expanded tariff authority is the biggest hurdle for House passage, as leading Democrats are reluctant to give Trump more power to raise import taxes.
- India scaled back Russian oil purchases mainly due to U.S. sanctions on Russian energy firms rather than punitive tariffs, per Nikoladze, who questioned the effectiveness of adding tariffs to the package.
- The bill would harmonize U.S. sanctions on Russia's shadow fleet with those maintained by the UK and EU, where the majority of Russian seaborne crude oil exports still move on sanctioned shadow tankers.
Why it matters: The bill's bite depends entirely on Trump, who has not taken a hard line on Putin and has even relaxed existing Russia sanctions to ease pressure on global oil markets during the Iran war. If the House passes the companion legislation, it would be the first comprehensive U.S. sanctions package on Moscow in Trump's second term, but codifying measures Russia has already adapted to over four years of war may produce limited new financial pressure.
