The bill intends to increase economic pressure on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine
Published 17 September 2026
The US House of Representatives has passed a sweeping sanctions bill on Russia in a rare bipartisan deal
The bill, which includes a wave of measures intended to increase economic pressure on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, will now be sent to Donald Trump to sign.
It is named the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 in honour of the late South Carolina senator who died in July and had introduced the bill a year and a half earlier.
The House passed it by 262 to 159, as dozens of Democrats broke with party leaders to join a majority of Republicans who voted in support.
The legislation targets Russia’s energy and defence industries, as well as its “shadow fleet” of tankers that evade existing sanctions.
It faced pushback because it also authorises Mr Trump to impose stiff tariffs on China, India and other countries to reduce their dependence on Russian oil and gas, as well as to extend sanctions on Iran.
Ruslan Stefanchuk, the Ukrainian parliament speaker, thanked the US Congress for the support.
“The passage… is a concrete step toward increasing pressure on Russia, its war machine, and those helping to finance its aggression against Ukraine,” he said in a statement on X.
The legislation had faced considerable opposition since Graham and dozens of other senators introduced it in April 2025. It took Mr Trump until July 2026 — days before Graham’s sudden death on July 11 — to allow Congress’s Republican leaders to schedule a vote.
Deadliest war since WWII
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the two sides have since waged the deadliest war in Europe since the Second World War.
Since starting his second term in January 2025, Mr Trump has generally favoured 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 to 11 with strong bipartisan support, after Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, met legislators to urge its passage and took the unusual step of watching an early procedural vote from a seat in the chamber.
Mr Zelensky reiterated his support for the bill in an address this week, saying it is “important that it becomes law. I thank everyone around the world who supports this approach and who knows that strength works”.
Moscow and Ukraine have traded strikes in recent months on infrastructure and other economic targets, aimed at hampering each other’s war effort and damaging morale. On Wednesday, Russian drones struck a passenger bus and a train in southern Ukraine, killing five people.
The bill faced opposition from House Democrats who said it gave Mr Trump too many new tariff powers that he could use against US allies. They say Mr Trump already has the authority he needs to impose sanctions on Russia, but has chosen not to do so.
They also say the bill makes it too easy for Mr Trump not to impose sanctions by declaring that doing so is not in the national interest.
Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, said in a speech on Wednesday that the legislation had too many loopholes to guarantee that any sanctions harming Russia would be applied, while increasing Mr Trump’s tariff powers.
“What this legislation will do is give Donald Trump, perhaps, unfettered authority to unleash tariffs on the American people,” he said.
Some Republicans had been concerned about political blowback against more tariffs and potentially higher consumer prices before November’s midterm elections, in which polls show the party struggling to keep control of the House.
Backers said the bill would send an essential message to Russia – and the world – that Washington continues to support Ukraine.
“You don’t have many votes like this in the Congress that impact global, geopolitical conflicts,” Republican Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, a lead sponsor of the bill, said during debate. “This bill will have a direct impact on the conflict threatening Eastern Europe and Nato itself and can bring this to an end to get Putin to the negotiating table.”
Roman Sheremeta commented :
Finally, some good news from Washington.
The U.S. Congress has passed the Lindsey Graham sanctions bill against russia.
The House just approved the Senate version by 262-159. The Senate had already passed it 86-11.
The legislation now goes to President Trump for his signature.
This is one of the strongest sanctions packages against russia since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. It targets russian officials, banks, the energy and defense sectors, and the shadow fleet used to evade sanctions. It also gives the president authority to impose tariffs of up to 100% on major countries buying russian oil and gas.
Both Republicans and Democrats came together and voted for this legislation, putting the need to confront russian aggression above partisan politics.
………………
But then after further investigation Roman posted the following :
Mark my words: Trump will sign the sanctions bill. But he will use it mainly against Iran and not russia.
Mike Johnson has just made a post celebrating the passage of the Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, claiming Republicans are putting “maximum pressure” on Putin. He says the bill “strengthens economic sanctions against the russian government, its financial institutions, and the foreign governments that aid russian aggression against Ukraine by purchasing cheap russian oil and gas and helping the Kremlin evade other sanctions.”
The reality is very different.
Remember how this legislation evolved. It began as Lindsey Graham’s russia sanctions bill. Iran was added later, with Trump’s involvement. The final legislation combines major russia sanctions authorities with a five-year extension of the Iran Sanctions Act.
Why combine them?
A standalone Iran package would have faced much greater resistance from Democrats, particularly after the war with Iran. But attach Iran to a bill imposing pressure on Putin, and Democrats face a difficult political calculation.
Most Democrats strongly support sanctions against russia and continued support for Ukraine. Indeed, despite Democratic House leadership opposing this particular bill, 58 House Democrats ultimately voted for it. The Senate passed it 86–11, including substantial Democratic support.
But Democrats would not support a standalone bill against Iran because they don’t want the U.S. to continue the war against Iran.
So, combining russia and Iran was therefore the only way to make the Iran provisions politically possible.
And this brings me to my prediction.
Trump will sign the bill. But watch how he actually uses it.
The legislation gives the president authority — including the ability to impose tariffs of up to 100% on major purchasers of russian oil and gas. But critically, it also gives the president substantial discretion and waiver authority. And Trump will avoid applying meaningful russia sanctions by invoking the “national interest.”
So Congress is giving Trump a powerful weapon.
My prediction is that Trump will use this bill to advance his general tariff war. He will also use it aggressively against Iran and countries dealing with Iran. But he will not harm his friend Putin.
Remember this post.
Comment from :
Trevor Smallwood
The bill is passed. Now let’s see what Trump does with it.
Or maybe he could supply some anti missile munitions to Kyiv?
Perhaps Trump could stop blaming Ukraine for the war or even the current diesel shortages?
Maybe he could take responsibility for the bottleneck in the Iran war?
There are any number of things the orange man could do, in fact could have done in the last 18 months.
Will any of it happen?
Nick Russell
Am I fool for hoping that the American President may yet do the right thing?
Evangelos Stavros
Trump will not use it against his pal Putin.
Yuriy Samonenko
Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski is suspiciously intelligent. Where did he come from?
(A minister isn’t supposed to think so sensibly; the position usually imposes limits on the brain.)
However, Sikorski clearly knows how to read the direction the wind is blowing.
The EU wants to drastically tighten the issuance of tourist visas to russians.
There are also plans to tighten movement restrictions for russian diplomats.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski stated that 40% of russian diplomatic staff in the EU are spies.
“Every time Russia committed an act of arson, I closed a russian consulate. But I’ve run out of consulates to close.”
Discussions on new sanctions began after Germany accused russia of attempting a drone attack on Leipzig Airport.
Sooner or later, russia will inevitably have to be sealed off to allow the masses to ferment undisturbed and proceed to mutual slaughter—to create a full-blown internal nightmare.
Sikorski and the EU, however, propose starting to build this incubator right now.
In addition to total isolation, the minister advocates for a purge of russian diplomatic missions.
This makes sense, too. russian intelligence operatives hiding behind diplomatic cover have become a nuisance with their bungled sabotage attempts and alcoholism.
Sikorski’s plan has both merits and drawbacks.
The fact is, the benighted russian masses won’t turn into savages just because of total isolation.
Their “cultural code” is rooted in the Soviet era and its prohibitions—back when even trips to Bulgaria required approval from Party committees and the KGB.
For decades, they accepted the fact that 99.9% of the population was barred from traveling abroad.
Yes, the era of loathsome “vatnik” hordes descending on Paris, London, and Courchevel will come to an end. But the “Sobchak-esque” stratum is small, and they would be afraid to grumble anyway. They don’t really shape the landscape.
So, it is a minor cause for rejoicing.
One must also bear in mind that the main wave of emigration—a veritable tsunami—still lies ahead. Fleeing the bloodshed, the gangs spawned by the “Special Military Operation,” the looting, the mass imprisonments, and the chaos, millions of bewildered russians will flood into the world in search of a new homeland. This, too, is inevitable and will require masterful management.
Nevzorov
@nevzorovtv
Mariya Vynnitska
💔🇺🇦 Five people took their seats on a morning bus today, unaware they were being tracked as prey.
A Russian drone hunted down the civilian vehicle on its normal route in the Nikopol district, striking it directly. Five human beings were killed on the spot. Seven others were left severely wounded.
This was not an accident or crossfire. It is what happens every single day across Ukraine.
In Nikopol, Kherson, Dnipro, and Zaporizhzhia, human life itself has become the target. People riding bicycles, families on buses, elderly pensioners waiting in line for their pensions, pharmacies, and hospitals – anything that supports basic survival is systematically hunted from above.
The most horrifying part is the deliberate nature of it. Russian operators record these drone strikes, upload the footage online, and share the video as entertainment. Ending a human life has been turned into a game.
To witness people taking genuine pleasure in causing terror, agony, and destruction leaves you completely numb. It defies basic human comprehension.
Ukrainians are facing a continuous attempt to erase their existence and tear their world into ashes. If the international community looks away and normalizes this level of cruelty, this evil will not stay contained. It will spread.
My deepest condolences go out to the families who lost their loved ones today 💔
Thank you to every partner, friend, and person who refuses to look away, keeps their heart open, and continues to stand with Ukraine 🇺🇦 Your compassion means everything.
I think I have no more words left to describe this evil…
Oleksii Fokardi. :
If Russians with ties to the Kremlin had paid for the wedding of Reagan’s daughter, the sons of Bush Sr., or even Nixon’s daughter, it would have been the end of that president. The Trump family, rotten to the core, has so corrupted American politics that even bribery, corruption, and treason go unpunished. Trumpism is a malignant tumor.
The West has tried everything except ending the war
Diplomacy, sanctions, 200 rounds of talks—Russia used all of it to buy time. Diesel prices in America are just the tsunami’s latest wave.
BY
HANS PETTER MIDTTUN
16/09/2026
TRUMP WILL NOT SIGN THIS BILL, OR A VERY WATERED DOWN OWN VERSION.