US Senate advances Russia sanctions bill named after late Sen. Graham

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Senators voted overwhelmingly Tuesday night to advance a sweeping Russia sanctions bill that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) had long sought to move forward before his unexpected death.

The 86 to 12 procedural vote tees up the bill for final passage in the upper chamber later this week.

The vote came shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed senators on Capitol Hill — and followed the funeral of the South Carolina senator, who was a stalwart supporter of Kyiv until his passing.

The legislation gained momentum after Graham’s death , galvanizing senators to take action on the bill in his name. Following his death, lawmakers renamed the bill after their former colleague.

It would sanction Russian leaders, its energy sector and shadow fleet. It also would extend certain sanctions on Iran — a last-minute addition after lawmakers struck a deal to expand the scope of the legislation earlier Tuesday.

The bill, which has 62 co-sponsors, is widely expected to pass in the upper chamber. The legislation’s path toward passage is likely but not guaranteed, as House lawmakers adjourned for August recess before taking it up. While House Democrats are likely to push back on the legislation over concerns that it grants Trump wider tariff authority, the bill has broad bipartisan support — and the White House’s blessing.

Graham and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) led a bipartisan cohort of lawmakers that worked to advance the legislation since April of last year. But the bill hit several roadblocks — including resistance from the White House, which wanted more leeway for the president to decide which entities to sanction, and by how much.

After multiple false starts, Graham announced from Kyiv just days before his death that he had secured the green light from the White House on revised text of the legislation. The revamped bill expands the number of Russian entities that would be subject to mandatory sanctions — including Russia’s shadow fleet of ships ferrying oil — but it also grants Trump broad waiver authority.

The bill would also use tariffs against the top buyers of Russian energy to pressure countries to reduce their reliance on Moscow’s exports. That provision proved problematic for Democrats, who were wary about expanding Trump’s tariff authority.

“It is extremely dangerous to give Trump massive new tariff powers, particularly after we’ve seen the disastrous impacts of his corrupt, chaotic, and inflationary tariff spree,” Sens. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said in a statement after the latest version of the bill was unveiled.

But the vast majority of Democrats still voted to advance the legislation Tuesday. Only 11 Democrats and Republican Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) voted against the bill.

Ahead of the evening vote, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters that the move would show Russian leader Vladimir Putin that “he can’t bully Ukraine” and that the U.S. “stands by” its ally.

The White House confirmed Trump backed the revised iteration of the bill, and Trump earlier this month demanded that Republicans tack sanctions against Iran onto the legislation because “ that’s what Lindsey wanted to do .”

That made for a minor speedbump in the bill’s path, though ultimately Democrats agreed to the move since it only extended preexisting sanctions against Tehran.

Jerry Wu contributed to this report.