House to take up Russia sanctions bill next week

The House is set to take up legislation next week aimed at imposing tougher sanctions on Russia, after the measure cleared the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support last month.

The House Rules Committee will meet Monday to consider the Russia sanctions bill, championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and backed by President Trump, along with other legislation. House GOP leaders are seeking to move the measure through regular order, meaning Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will need near-unanimous Republican support on a procedural vote to advance the bill on the floor.

It remains unclear whether Johnson has enough GOP votes to clear that hurdle, setting up a potential test for House Republicans before the chamber can take up the underlying legislation for final passage.

The measure could also face resistance from Democrats, who have bristled at giving Trump tariff authorities even if they want to find a way to provide additional U.S. support to Ukraine. They argue that the president already has ample authority to impose sanctions on companies, individuals and oil tankers financing Russia’s war machine.

Johnson told The Washington Examiner earlier this week at the GOP midterm convention in Dallas that “there should be bipartisan consensus” around the bill.

Margus Tsahkna, the minister of foreign affairs of the Republic of Estonia, wrote on social platform X , “Estonia strongly supports imposing additional sanctions on Russia. We commend the U.S. Congress for their efforts and hope to see the Russian sanctions bill pass into law.”

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 bill passed the Senate with broad bipartisan support last month.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), 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 effing deal. We all did good,” he said. “A bipartisan team achieved this overwhelming 86-11 vote. President Zelensky is watching in Ukraine. President Putin is watching in Moscow,” he continued, referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.