House passes Russia sanctions bill, overcoming opposition from Democratic leaders

Washington — A sweeping Russia sanctions bill overcame opposition in the House on Wednesday, after many Democrats expressed concern that it would expand President Trump’s tariff authorities. 

The House passed the bill in a 262 to 159 vote on the final day that the lower chamber is in session before lawmakers leave Washington until after Election Day. Some 58 Democrats voted in favor of the bill, while seven Republicans voted in opposition. 

The Senate passed the legislation with overwhelming bipartisan support in August after more than a year of negotiations that were spearheaded by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. It now heads to Mr. Trump’s desk.

“This bill sends a powerful message of American unity and gives the administration every tool in the toolbox to help bring this war to a just end, and we are proud to send it to the president’s desk,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement after its passage. 

The effort to penalize top Russian figures and the biggest buyers of Russian oil over the war in Ukraine gained fresh momentum after Graham’s sudden death in July. Graham died shortly after returning from a trip to Kyiv and announcing that a deal had been reached with the White House to move forward on an updated version of the legislation. 

The bill, titled The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, allows the president to impose tariffs of up to 100% on the top five purchasers of Russian oil or natural gas. There are exceptions for countries that import less than 15% of their natural gas from Russia and are taking “significant” steps to reduce the imports. It also includes sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin, officials within his government, oligarchs and Russian banks and financial institutions.

China and India are the largest buyers of Russian crude oil, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air think tank. Europe has historically been Russia’s largest natural gas customer, though the European Union has cut its imports significantly in recent years, and sales to China have grown.

At the request of Mr. Trump, the bill also extends sanctions on Iran’s energy and weapons sectors. 

It gives the president authority to waive the sanctions if he certifies to Congress that it’s in the national interests of the U.S. 

Several House Democrats in leadership positions have been opposed to the measure in its current form, arguing it “would do more harm than good.” 

“This bill would dramatically expand presidential tariff authorities while failing to mandate sanctions on Russia, both of which are unacceptable. These flaws would raise Americans’ prices while undermining support for Ukraine in the long term,” Democratic Reps. Gregory Meeks of New York, Don Beyer of Virginia and Richard Neal of Massachusetts said in a statement Friday after GOP leaders added the legislation to this week’s floor schedule. “The President has ample authority to expand sanctions on those fueling Russia’s war machine, including those targeted by this bill, and we renew our call on him to do so without further delay.”

The group said they were continuing to push for bipartisan negotiations involving both House and Senate members to craft an alternative bill. 

In a floor speech ahead of the vote Wednesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said that he would not support the legislation because “there are so many loopholes written into the bill” that he had doubts about whether the sanctions “will ever see the light of day.”

Republicans noted during floor debate on the measure that it had the support of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“As we’ve heard from President Zelenskyy’s team, you can evade sanctions — which the Russians have done for years — but you cannot evade tariffs,” Republican Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas said on the House floor. “Tariffs are a powerful way to amplify the impact of sanctions. That’s why they are the teeth of this bill.” 

The legislation narrowly avoided a potential hurdle Tuesday during a procedural vote to tee the bill and several unrelated measures up for debate as a small group of conservatives voted in opposition or withheld their support. Two moderate Democrats — Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, who is retiring, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, who holds a competitive seat — split with Democrats in what is typically a party-line vote to help propel it forward. 

“This is our last week in session until November. The stakes for Ukraine are too high to let this good bill — which already passed the Senate with overwhelming, bipartisan support — die as a result of a procedural vote,” Golden said in a statement about the defection. 

Gluesenkamp Perez pointed to her Ukrainian constituency, saying, “I’ll always stand with my community’s values.”