The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a sweeping sanctions and tariff bill intended to increase economic pressure on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, sending the bill to President Donald Trump to sign into law nearly one and half years after the late Senator Lindsey Graham introduced it.
The bill, now called the “Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026” passed the Senate last month.
The House passed it by 262 to 159, as 58 Democrats broke with party leaders to join all but seven Republicans in favor.
The legislation targets Russia’s energy and defense industries, as well as its shadow fleet of tankers that evade existing sanctions, in order to deprive Moscow of funds used to pay for its war with Ukraine.
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It faced pushback because it also authorises Trump to impose stiff tariffs of up to 100% on China, India and other countries to reduce their dependence on Russian oil and gas, as well as to extend sanctions on Iran.
It is the most significant Ukraine-related legislation Congress has passed since Trump returned to the White House and his fellow Republicans took control of both houses of Congress in January 2025.
And it had faced considerable opposition since Graham and dozens of other senators introduced it in April 2025. It took Trump until July 2026, days before Graham’s sudden death on July 11 — to allow Congress’ Republican leaders to schedule a vote.
“This means so much to me and it meant so much to Lindsey,” Republican Senator Darline Graham, who was appointed to her late brother’s seat, told a press conference after the vote.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the two sides have since waged the deadliest war in Europe since World War Two.
Since starting his second term in January 2025, Trump has generally favored keeping control over tariffs and sanctions, a central tool of his foreign policy, rather than working with Congress on legislation.
The Graham act passed the Senate last month by 86-11 with strong bipartisan support, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met with lawmakers to urge its passage and took the unusual step of watching a procedural vote from a seat in the chamber.
Reuters
