The US Senate voted 86-11 to pass the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, a package aimed at Russia’s oil and gas income. The bill now goes to the House. President Donald Trump has signaled his support, according to American Journal Daily.
The vote came four weeks after Graham and Sen. Richard Blumenthal announced on July 10 that they had reached a deal with the White House. Graham had just returned from Ukraine. He died the next day, likely from an aortic tear, and the bill now carries his name.
What the bill does
Graham had spent months assembling the package. It allows tariffs of up to 500% on Russian imports, and tariffs of up to 100% on the top five countries still buying Russian energy, a group that includes China and India. It also puts personal sanctions on Vladimir Putin, senior military leaders and Russian financial institutions, and goes after the shadow fleet of reflagged tankers Russia uses to get around existing restrictions.
The path to the vote took more than a year of stops and starts.
Objections along the way
Sen. Rand Paul argued that tariffs on China would push Beijing closer to Moscow rather than away from it, and he wanted the tariff authority removed. The Senate rejected that. Sen. Raphael Warnock held up the package over concern about giving Trump broad tariff powers. He dropped the hold after U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer gave him written commitments limiting the scope. The remaining opposition came mostly from progressive Democrats.
On the floor
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lobbied senators in person within hours of Graham’s memorial service, meeting lawmakers from both parties and watching the first procedural votes from the gallery.
“Today, President Zelenskyy is watching from Ukraine, and Putin is watching from Moscow,” Blumenthal, D-Conn., said on the Senate floor. “I would like to think that Lindsey Graham is watching, too.”
Graham’s sister, Darline Graham, was appointed to his Senate seat. She told the chamber the legislation “hits Putin where it hurts.”
