Senate overwhelmingly advances Russia sanctions bill named after Sen. Lindsey Graham
Graham had worked to carefully negotiate the package with the White House.
With Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy overlooking the floor, the Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly advanced a Russia and Iran sanctions bill named in honor of Sen. Lindsey Graham.
The vote was a procedural one and additional votes must be taken in the Senate before it is approved. However, the bipartisan showing suggests the bill will easily be approved by the Senate and sent to the House.
The bill is named after Graham, who was one of the Republican conferences most outspoken Ukraine allies, and who had been working to carefully negotiate the package with the White House in the days leading up to his sudden and unexpected death earlier this month.
The vote on the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 followed Graham's funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral. Zelenskyy met with senators on Capitol Hill just ahead of the vote on the bill, which aims to punish Russia for its aggression against his country.
Zelenskyy was in Washington to attend Graham's funeral service. He also met with President Donald Trump as the Ukraine's war with Russia drags on.
"We're thankful to senators and we're thankful for this discussion," Zelenskyy said after meeting with senators. "The discussion was with details on how to help Ukraine. We are thankful that this bill puts very important sanctions pressure on Russia it is very important and really gives -- it's not only about money, how to stop how to finance this war, but it's also a big signal to Europe, big signal to Ukraine, big support of our people. So I'm very thankful that god bless we will have positive results."
The package would impose primary and secondary sanctions on Russia and other countries that support Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions target Russian political officials and oligarchs, banks and financial institutions, and the Russian shadow fleet, according to a release from the bipartisan group.
The legislation also allows the president to impose tariffs, but limits the scope of those tariffs to the five largest importers of Russian crude oil or gas and the top five countries that aid Russia's energy sanctions evasion.
The bill also extends previously approved sanctions on Iran that were set to expire this year until 2031, restricting funding for Iran's energy and weapons sector.
"We are proud to announce an agreement on legislation to stop purchasers of Russian oil and gas from fueling Putin's war machine and to continue restricting the Iranian regime's ability to support terrorism and build its nuclear program," Sens. Richard Blumenthal, Darline Graham, Katie Britt, Jeanne Shaheen, Jim Risch and Roger Wicker wrote in a joint statement. "There is no greater way to honor Senator Graham’s legacy than to move forward with this bipartisan agreement, and we look forward to today’s vote."
The bill has more than 60 cosponsors and is therefore expected to easily pass the Senate. Tuesday night's vote is procedural, but sets the bill up for final passage some time later this week.
The House is out of town until Aug. 31, so the bill will likely not head to Trump's desk until the House acts on it after its scheduled recess. A White House official said that the bill meets the president's call to include sanctions on the Iranian regime.
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