A bill aimed at imposing sanctions on Russia’s trading partners faces an uncertain future in the US House of Representatives, despite winning overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate less than a month ago, POLITICO reports.


The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act, named after the late South Carolina senator who championed the legislation, passed the Senate by an 86-11 vote. However, House Republican leaders have left it off this week’s voting agenda, amid Democratic opposition and limited enthusiasm among Republicans.


“We just came from a chairmen’s meeting, and nobody brought it up,” House Rules Chair Virginia Foxx said. Asked whether the bill could advance through her committee, she added, “I have no idea. Nobody’s talking about it.”


Speaker Mike Johnson acknowledged the legislation faces an uphill battle, saying, “We’ll see,” while attributing the uncertainty to Democratic opposition. “We’ve been very consistent on taking a strong hand against Russia. So we’ll see what happens,” Johnson said.


The bill’s supporters say it would give President Donald Trump additional leverage to pressure Moscow to end the war in Ukraine, including through new tariff powers targeting Russia’s trading partners.


But Republican divisions over Ukraine and Democratic concerns about expanding Trump’s tariff authority threaten its prospects.


“I think it’s very important to pass the sanctions bill,” said Representative Don Bacon, a Republican defence hawk. “It’s a failure to not do so.”


Some conservatives remain opposed or undecided. Representative Thomas Massie said, “Haven’t seen it. Haven’t heard about it. All I can say is in 14 years I’ve never voted to sanction a sovereign country.”


House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries expressed “serious concerns,” saying the bill “risks providing tariff and sanctions authority to Donald Trump and his administration that we believe they will abuse.”


Centrist Democrat Brad Schneider also opposed expanding executive authority, saying, “I’m opposed to giving the executive branch more authority that was rightly placed with the legislative branch a very long time ago.”


By Vafa Guliyeva