The Senate on 8/7/2026 passed a long-sought bipartisan bill that would impose harsher sanctions on Russia and the top five buyers of Russian oil, along with extending existing sanctions on Iran. That measure was a major legislative goal of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), The vote was 86-11.
The legislation sat in limbo for most of the week as senators haggled behind the scenes over amendments to the measure. Some senators in both parties raised concerns about potentially further raising tariffs on major trading partners. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) offered an amendment to strike out language giving the executive branch the authority to impose tariffs of up 100% on countries that buy energy products from Russia.
Paul’s amendment failed by a vote of 32-64, setting the stage for Senate passage of the broader bill. If enacted, the measure would impose harsher sanctions on Russia and buyers of Russian oil and gas than the U.S. has previously enforced and extend existing sanctions on Iran, aiming to economically squeeze the two countries. The Iran provision was a later add, requested by President Trump, to prevent longstanding sanctions from lapsing at the end of the year.
The bill’s passage underscores an urgency from many lawmakers to make progress in showing support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. Most senators met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last month after he attended Graham’s funeral, and he made the case for more military aid, as well as the sanctions bill. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), the lead Democratic Sponsor of the measure, hailed it as a huge victory, and recalled some of the final words he heard from Graham, the Chief GOP Sponsor, about the bill’s imminent passage.
“As he said to me in some of his last words, this is a big f’ing deal. We all did good,” He said. “A bipartisan team achieved this overwhelming 86-11 vote. President Zelenskyy is watching in Ukraine. President Putin is watching in Moscow. “Today we send a message to Vladimir Putin: You will not win this war. Time to come to the table for peace. Your economy, already on its heels, is going to be throttled, even decimated by cutting off the flow of revenue from Russian oil and gas,” He said. Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) said that the Bill is a Symbol of Congress’ Attitude about the War, but that Trump (R) has a Responsibility to further Crack Down on Russia.
“Zelenskyy’s been clear with us; they’re steadily running out of interceptors,” Coons said. “Putin has made it clear he’s going to continue killing civilians and pummeling. And what really matters is not this bill; it’s what does Trump do with it? Will Trump finally actually take the side of the country that is aligned with our values and our interests and our priorities against the country that isn’t? And we can pass a bill as an important sign that Congress wants him to take more of an active role, but he’s got to decide to do it. That’s what matters.” The Specifics of the Bill caused some Friction with Democrats, who generally Support Ukraine but were Concerned about the Power the Legislation would give Trump to tariff countries seen as “facilitators” of Russian evasion of sanctions.
“We’ve seen the ways in which he illegally uses the authorities he has,” Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia) told reporters last week. “I think we can write this bill in such a way that we do the necessary work of stopping Putin’s aggression, while at the same time not giving the president even more authorities to handle tariffs in the reckless way in which he is doing it.” Warnock secured a written commitment from U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to put guardrails on Trump’s tariff authority.
That commitment was enough to satisfy Warnock to withdraw an amendment that would have put those guardrails in the legislation. The Georgia Democrat called the pledge from Greer “a small but meaningful victory for all Americans who’ve suffered under this president’s reckless tariffs.” “It continue to reject the idea that we have to choose between putting a check on Putin’s aggression and putting a check on this president’s tariff regime,” he said. Warnock had placed a hold on the bill to get leverage for a vote on his amendment, delaying it for part of the week. The bill now heads to the House, where it faces an uncertain future after lawmakers return from their August recess.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
