WASHINGTON — The U.S. House will vote Wednesday on a broad package of sanctions targeting Russian officials and key pillars of its economy as lawmakers look to deprive Russian President Vladimir Putin of the financial resources needed to wage the war against Ukraine. The bill is named after the late Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who spent more than a year working on it. If the House passes the bill, it would go to U.S. President Donald Trump to be signed into law. The legislation represents the most ambitious effort to support Ukraine since U.S. President Donald Trump’s return to the White House and would break nearly two years of relative gridlock on the issue following a 2024 emergency aid package. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pushing for the bill’s passage and made a direct appeal to senators shortly before they passed it last month. The measure sanctions Russian officials, banks and a shadow fleet of tankers that keeps Russian energy moving. It also directs Trump to impose up to 100 per cent tariffs on the top five importers of Russian oil or natural gas, with an exception for countries that import less than 15 per cent of Russia’s natural gas exports and have taken significant steps to reduce those imports. “These countries have a choice to make about whether they will continue to sustain Putin’s aggression,” said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas. Democrats are divided on the legislation Supporters said the provision is aimed at deterring China and India from purchasing Russian energy, but critics of the bill said they fear Trump will use it to target allies in the European Union and elsewhere. Americans, they warned, would pay the price for such tariffs through higher prices at the cash register. “This president has always said he loves tariffs,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y. “And we know the history of what he’s done with reference to tariffs to our European allies, and our allies everywhere.” Democrats are divided on the bill, despite overwhelming support in the caucus for aiding Ukraine. Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told colleagues they can’t control what the president does, but they can stand up and declare where they are on the war. “If we fail to pass this bill, there will be cheers in the Kremlin and tears in Kyiv,” Hoyer said. But Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., predicted Ukraine supporters would come to regret voting for the bill “Yes they will be able to say ‘we stood with Ukraine,’ in the immediate aftermath,” Beyer said. “But when Donald Trump hits our allies with new tariffs and waives sanctions on Russia, the propaganda victory for Putin will be lasting, and the damage will be embedded in U.S. law.” Getting Trump onboard has been a long process Congress has struggled to ensure the flow of U.S. funding and munitions to Ukraine as Republican support for spending billions of dollars more on the effort has waned. Trump routinely derided the Ukraine aid while campaigning for the White House and insisted that, if elected, he would quickly end the war launched by Moscow’s February 2022 invasion. It took Graham essentially a full year to bring Trump on board with the Russia sanctions package. Eventually, Trump gave a nod to the bill after it included his push for an extension of sanctions on Iran. Republicans speaking on the House floor in advance of Wednesday’s vote were overwhelmingly supportive of the package. Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., acknowledged Democratic criticism that tariffs could be used aggressively on smaller U.S. allies, but it was time to deliver a resounding message to the Kremlin: “End this war, get out of Ukraine, focus on rebuilding your shattered international reputation and your destroyed economy,” he said. Kevin Freking, The Associated Press
