The US will exacerbate the force on Russia. The home of Representatives adopted a sanction law

The home of Representatives adopted on Wednesday a bill providing for sanctions against Russia and the anticipation of imposing duties on goods originating in countries that import Russian oil and gas. 262 congressmen voted in favour of the regulations, 159 against. Many Democrats opposed the bill, while the Republicans supported it almost all – only 7 representatives of the organization voted against.

The vote is the next phase of Congress' action since April 2025, which aims to put force on the president to take more decisive steps towards Russia. The project, initiated by the late Senator Lindsey Graham, who bears his name, requires the president to introduce duties of up to 100% in 30 days on goods from the 5 major recipients of Russian oil, the 5 largest importers of Russian gas and the 5 countries that aid Russia circumvent the sanctions in force. On the basis of data collected by the Senate, China, India, Slovakia, Hungary, Azerbaijan, Turkey, the United arabian Emirates, Kazakhstan and Singapore can be counted among others.

The fresh rules besides reenforce the sanctions already in force against Russian authorities, financial institutions and the energy sector. At the same time, they supply for the anticipation of introducing further restrictions, including against the alleged Russian shadow fleet.

The scope of the powers conferred on the president remains broad as the Act allows him to waive both sanctions and duties in certain situations.

Distribution among Democrats

The support for the task was not unanimous among the Democrats. The party, which has so far mostly supported Ukraine and increased force on Russia, was divided in the assessment of the fresh legislation. The opponents of the bill primarily pointed out the broad powers granted to the president in the field of customs policy. They feared that they could let arbitrary imposition of advanced tariffs on allied countries, including the European Union.

Gregory Meeks, Deputy Head of the abroad Affairs Committee, and another opponents of the task argued that the president already has the anticipation of introducing additional sanctions against Russia without having to pass fresh regulations. In their view, however, he has not decided to usage these powers consistently so far.

Another position was presented by Steny Hoyer, 1 of the leading Democrats. In his opinion, the president inactive has extended tariff-imposed powers, and so the rejection of the task could be perceived as a signal of Congress' deficiency of determination towards Russia.

Amendments rejected

Similar arguments were presented by Republicans supporting further support of Ukraine, including Michael McCaul, co-author of the project. According to him, the adoption of the bill is intended to increase the force on Russia and encourage it to start negotiations.

Even before the vote, on Monday, the Rules of Procedure Committee of the home of Representatives rejected the amendments proposed by the Democrats. 1 of them provided for a ban on customs against European allies of the United States. The proposal to supply additional financial support to Ukraine was besides not adopted.