The House passed a sweeping Russia sanctions bill on Wednesday, sending the legislation to President Donald Trump for his signature. The measure cleared the chamber 262 to 159. The vote split both parties. It gives the president authority to impose tariffs of up to 100% on countries among the top purchasers of Russian crude oil and natural gas, including China and India. The broader aim is to squeeze the Russian economy and force President Vladimir Putin to end his war in Ukraine.
The bill, titled the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, is named for the South Carolina Republican who died earlier this year. Graham co-authored and submitted the legislation more than a year and a half ago. The long delay before a vote was widely attributed to skepticism from the Trump administration, which had opposed additional sanctions but recently shifted its stance as efforts to negotiate with the Kremlin yielded few results.
Fifty-eight House Democrats joined with most Republicans to advance the legislation. Seven Republicans broke ranks to oppose the measure. The Senate passed the bill 86-11 last month. Support for Ukraine has fractured the GOP caucus in recent years.
A debate over tariff authority
The tariff provision was the central sticking point for many Democrats who opposed the measure. They warned that Trump could use the new authority against allies and trading partners of his choosing, with no guardrails, oversight, or expiration. “This bill has a loophole that would allow him to define basically any country as a facilitator of evading Russian sanctions,” said Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va. “He could then hit them with tariffs of up to 100%, with no guardrails or oversight, and no expiration.” Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., said on the House floor, “we cannot grant the president more tariff power that we know he will abuse.” Meeks, Beyer, and Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., said in a joint statement that while House Democrats staunchly support Ukraine, the bill would “do more harm than good.” They argued it would dramatically expand presidential tariff authorities while failing to mandate sanctions on Russia, raising Americans’ prices while undermining support for Ukraine in the long term.
Hakeem Jeffries, the leading Democrat in the House, said he would vote against the bill. “Why in the world would this Congress give this president additional authority to visit that kind of economic harm on the American people?” Jeffries said during floor debate on Wednesday.
Republicans urge action
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, who worked on the bill with Graham, urged his colleagues to support it. “This is a moral issue that requires moral courage,” McCaul said. “I want us to be able to say that we did everything possible to end this war. That we understood the threat. That we had the courage to do what was right — to cripple the Russian war machine and turn the tide toward peace.”
Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, called the vote the Congress’ “Churchill vs Chamberlain Moment on Russia.” He rejected arguments that the bill gave Trump too much authority. “Choking off the money funding a war of conquest in Europe is exactly what that authority should be used for, and Congress deciding to do that is Congress doing its constitutional job,” he said.
The bill mandates new sanctions on Russian political and military officials, companies, and financial institutions helping fuel the war. It also targets foreign networks helping supply Russia’s war machine and evade existing sanctions, including Russia’s fleet of “shadow tankers” that have allowed the country to continue shipping crude despite sanctions on its energy exports. The legislation also expands sanctions on Iran.
The vote came on the last day before Congress goes on recess ahead of the midterm elections. A Tuesday rule vote allowing consideration of Senate amendments passed by just 214-211, with two Democrats joining Republicans in what they described as an act of support for Ukraine. That vote led to senior Democrats holding terse talks with their party members. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, one of the two Democrats who broke ranks, said she was proud to represent one of the largest Ukrainian communities in America. “I’ll always stand with my community’s values, and am grateful for the 86 senators who voted to send this bill to the House,” she wrote in a statement. “My vote today gets us one step closer to enacting these sanctions into law and I look forward to voting tomorrow to cut off the flow of Russian oil money fuelling this war.”
The Ukrainian government has said it supported the bill. Denys Sienik, the Chargé d’Affaires at the Ukrainian embassy in Washington, said, “We support any initiative that is in the interest of Ukraine and Ukrainians.” Hundreds of pro-Ukrainian activists held advocacy talks in Washington in the days before the vote. A White House official confirmed that Trump intends to sign the bill into law.