By a large, bipartisan margin, the US Senate on Friday approved a bill intended to punish Russia and countries that buy its petroleum exports over the invasion of Ukraine, capping a legislative push that was spurred by the death of its champion, the Republican senator Lindsey Graham.
The measure, renamed the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia Act in honor of the late senator’s work on the issue, was approved by an 86-11 vote. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the sole Republican to oppose the legislation, together with 10 Democrats.
The bill would impose new sanctions and visa bans on Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, and top military commanders, as well as put tariffs of up to 500% on the country’s exports. It would also allow Donald Trump to impose levies of up to 100% on goods from countries that are the top five importers of Russian oil and gas.
The proposal was a top priority for Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina who spent the final days of his life working to advance it. But the effort had became mired in months of negotiations between the White House and Senate leadership.
After Graham’s sudden death last month at the age of 71 following a trip to Kyiv, party leaders announced an agreement to get the bill through the chamber and honor his legacy as an ally of Ukraine. The Senate took the first step toward advancing it last month, on the day of Graham’s funeral, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, watching from the chamber.
“This bill forces those primary countries keeping Russia’s economy afloat to make a simple yet critical choice – a choice between doing business with America or buying cheap Russian energy,” said Darline Graham, the late senator’s sister who was appointed to his seat after his death.
Graham, who presided over the Senate and announced the bill’s passage, added: “This legislation tells Russia’s customers that the United States of America will not sit by while they fund Putin’s assault.”
The measure was a relatively rare bipartisan accomplishment ahead of November’s midterm elections, where Democrats hope to channel voter sentiment against Trump to regain control of Congress.
“By imposing steep sanctions that will further drain the Kremlin’s war chest, Congress is delivering an important reminder to Putin and his allies that this is a losing war and authoritarianism will never go unchallenged,” said Chuck Schumer, the minority leader.
“I urge Trump to use these sanctions to hit Putin where it hurts. Continuing to appease Putin won’t work.”
After the vote, Zelenskyy thanked the US Senate, writing on X that the bill’s advancement “certainly helps increase pressure on the aggressor to bring this insane Russian war against our independence and our people to an end”.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, also cheered the Senate’s action. “Together, let us drain Russia’s means to continue a war it cannot win,” she wrote on X. “With hard-hitting, complementary sanctions, Europe and the United States can once again show what historic partners can achieve when we act together.”
The measure now heads to the House of Representatives, which may consider once it returns from recess at the end of August.
Some Democrats have warned that the bill would give Trump new tariff powers at a time when he has put such levies at the center of his trade policy. Paul and Democratic senator Ron Wyden had offered an amendment that would have stripped some of the new tariff authority from the text, but the Senate rejected it by a 32-64 vote.
“This bill gives him so much discretion that Trump can ultimately decide what countries to tariff, or what countries to exempt. And he can modify tariffs at his will,” said Wyden, who voted against the bill.
“Trump can pick and choose even more countries to tariff every 180 days, but there is no mechanism in this bill for Congress to roll back these tariffs,” he continued.
“If Congress passes this bill, members will be condoning the tariff chaos of the last year and a half – and inviting more.”
Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House foreign affairs committee, and Don Beyer, the senior Democrat on the joint economic committee, criticized the legislation for creating “sweeping new tariff authorities that the president could weaponize with abandon, as he has repeatedly done in the past”.
Noting that Trump just weeks ago imposed new 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods, the two Democrats said: “We welcome our Senate colleagues’ urgent effort to support Ukraine and punish Russia for its continued illegal war, but this bill would not achieve those goals. Instead, it would allow President Trump to dodge holding Russia accountable and impose yet more tariffs in his destructive trade wars, leaving Americans to foot the bill.”
