Senators say they have a deal with Trump to advance Russia sanctions bill
Republican senators Lindsey Graham and Roger Wicker, joined by Democrats Richard Blumenthal and Jeanne Shaheen, said on July 10 that they had reached agreement with the Trump administration to advance a Russia sanctions bill that has been stalled in Congress for more than a year. The administration’s backing removes the main obstacle that had kept the measure from moving.
The bill — first introduced in 2025 by Graham and Blumenthal — would impose 500 percent tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil, gas and uranium, and a 500 percent tariff on Russian goods entering the United States. The stated aim is to squeeze the Kremlin’s energy revenue by penalizing its foreign buyers.
The agreement is largely about language and timing: with White House sign-off, the sponsors can bring updated text forward with bipartisan support. It comes as Trump has moved closer to Kyiv’s position in the war, and the tariff mechanism, if enacted and enforced, would put major purchasers of Russian energy — chiefly China and India — in the U.S. line of fire, which is why the details of any presidential waiver authority will matter as much as the headline rate.