US House to Vote Today on ‘Lindsey O. Graham’ Sanctions Package Against Russia and Iran — Trump Expected to Sign

The US House of Representatives is expected to vote today (Wednesday) on the sweeping sanctions package to increase economic pressure on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, nearly a year and a half after the late Senator Lindsey Graham first proposed it. The bill, now named the “Lindsey O. Graham Russia and Iran Sanctions Act of 2026” in honor of the South Carolina Republican, passed the Senate last month; approval in the House would send it to the White House, where President Donald Trump plans to sign it.

The legislation would target Russia’s energy and defense industries, as well as the “shadow fleet” of tankers that evade existing sanctions.

It would also authorize Trump to impose steep tariffs on China, India and other countries to reduce their dependence on Russian oil and gas, as well as additional sanctions against Iran.

Supporters expect the House to pass the legislation, even though it has faced considerable opposition since Graham and dozens of other senators proposed it in April 2025. Trump took until July 2026 — days before Graham’s sudden death on July 11 — to allow Republican congressional leaders to schedule the vote on the bill.

The Graham Act passed the Senate last month by 86 votes to 11, with strong bipartisan support, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with lawmakers to seek its approval and watched an early procedural vote from a seat in the chamber — an unusual step. Zelenskyy reiterated his support for the bill in a speech this week: “It is important that it becomes law. I thank everyone in the world who supports this approach and who knows that force works,” he said.

But the bill has faced opposition from House Democrats, including some of its senior leaders, who say it gives Trump too many new tariff powers that he could use against US allies. They say Trump already has the authority needed to impose sanctions on Russia but has chosen not to do so, and that the bill makes it too easy for Trump to walk away from sanctions. “White House lawyers drafted the current text to maximize President Trump’s authority to impose new import taxes on the American people, and to minimize any obligation to actually impose new sanctions on Russia or its helpers,” said Representative Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Some Republicans also oppose the bill because they see sanctions as unjustified interference in the free market and US support for Ukraine as contrary to the non-interventionist “America First” vision of foreign policy. Others worry about political blowback from more tariffs and potentially higher prices for consumers ahead of the November midterm elections, where polls show the party struggling to hold control of the House.

Supporters of the bill say it sends a vital message to Russia — and the world — that Washington continues to support Ukraine. “Putin believes he can fund this war indefinitely,” said Republican Representative Michael McCaul, one of the bill’s lead sponsors, of the Russian president. “We must change this calculus and make sure there are consequences for those who help him.”

Source: Reuters