Congress Sends Sweeping Russia-Iran Sanctions Bill to Trump

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The US Congress on September 16 passed sweeping legislation targeting Russia and Iran, sending to President Donald Trump a sanctions package supporters say will increase pressure on Moscow and countries that help finance its war against Ukraine.

The House of Representatives passed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 by a vote of 262-159, with 203 Republicans, 58 Democrats, and one independent voting in favor. Seven Republicans and 152 Democrats opposed it.

The bill had already passed the Senate by an 86-11 vote last month. It is named for the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who spent more than a year building bipartisan support for the legislation before his sudden death in July.

Trump is expected to sign it.

The legislation targets Russian officials, financial institutions, the energy sector, and the country's so-called shadow fleet of tankers. It also gives Trump authority to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on major purchasers of Russian oil and gas and on countries that help Moscow evade sanctions.

The measure also extends US sanctions on Iran.

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The bill's path through the House was complicated by Democratic opposition centered largely on the additional tariff authority given to Trump.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said he supports pressuring Russia but could not support what he described as broad new presidential tariff powers.

Representative Gregory Meeks of New York, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, likewise said he remained committed to stopping Russia's war against Ukraine but opposed the legislation's tariff provisions.

Meeks said Trump already has substantial authority to sanction Moscow and argued that the bill should have included stronger requirements for the administration to use it.

Fifty-eight Democrats nevertheless voted for the legislation, reflecting continued support among many lawmakers for imposing additional economic costs on Russia.

Critics also raised concerns that the tariff powers could affect US partners and allies, including European countries that continue to import Russian energy.

But European officials cited after the vote did not echo the broader argument that Europe opposed the legislation.

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Supporters of the legislation say its tariff provisions are intended to target countries whose purchases of Russian energy help finance Moscow's war.

Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, a Democratic co-author of the legislation, delivered a blunt message to the Kremlin after the vote. "To Vladimir Putin, we have your number," Blumenthal said.

He warned China and India that continued purchases of Russian oil and gas could expose them to the new US measures. "China and India, you better clean up your act, buy your oil and gas somewhere else," he said.

Blumenthal said the legislation was intended to increase pressure on Moscow and force Putin toward negotiations, while stressing that sanctions alone would not be enough.

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Republican Senator Katie Britt of Alabama, a key supporter of the legislation, said the measure would also hold Iran accountable for what she described as "47 years of terror."

The bill extends the Iran Sanctions Act by five years, maintaining sanctions targeting Iran's energy and weapons sectors.

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House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana said the legislation puts "maximum pressure" on Putin and countries helping Russia evade sanctions.

"For too long, Putin has bankrolled this devastating war with money and resources from countries willing to look the other way, and today, that ends," Johnson said.

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