Democrats begrudgingly hand Trump victory on tariffs in sprawling sanctions bill

2026-09-16 18:29 EDT / Fox News

The legislation allows up to 500% tariffs on Russian imports and targets oligarchs, banks and the shadow fleet

By Elizabeth Elkind , Alex Miller, Fox News

Published September 16, 2026 6:29pm EDT | Updated September 16, 2026 6:33pm EDT

Russia sanctions bill stalls over Trump tariff concerns

A Senate-passed Russia sanctions bill faces resistance in the House as Democrats raise concerns about granting President Trump expanded tariff authority, while supporters argue tougher economic pressure could help force Moscow toward negotiations.

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Several Democrats voted with Republicans to pass a sweeping sanctions package targeting Russia Wednesday, handing President Donald Trump a key authority the left has long raged against.

The House of Representatives passed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, named after the late Republican senator who was one of Ukraine’s biggest champions in Congress until his sudden death in July.

The legislation passed in a 262 to 159 vote. Fifty-three Democrats voted with 203 Republicans to pass the bill. Seven Republicans and 152 Democrats opposed it.

It comes despite opposition from key Democrats over a provision giving Trump tariff authority over countries fueling Russia’s war in Ukraine.

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President Donald Trump takes the stage to speak on the second day of the 2026 Republican National Convention at the American Airlines Center Sept. 10, 2026, in Dallas, Texas.(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“What we’re not for is giving more tariff authority to this president,” Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., said during debate on the bill.

“There is no guarantee in this legislation that the president could not use these tariffs against Ukraine if he decided to do so. There is no guarantee in this legislation that the president can impose these tariffs on Russia, with the enthusiasm that our friends on the other side have offered.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said, “The manner in which this bill has been written doesn’t require the president of the United States to impose sanctions on Russia. In fact, there are so many loopholes written into the bill, I believe that it’s very unlikely that the sanctions relief contemplated in the legislation will ever see the light of day.”

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The bill was led in the House by Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, a longtime supporter of Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, meets with Sen. Lindsey Graham in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 18, 2024.(Ukrainian Presidency/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“This is a critical time in history, a time my friend Lindsey Graham described as a magic moment, a moment that we cannot afford to waste,” McCaul said during debate. “We shared a fundamental belief that America is strongest at home when it projects strength abroad. This legislation does exactly that.

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“It targets the money that fuels Russia’s war machine. It sanctions Russian officials and oligarchs, banks and financial institutions and the shadow fleet that helps cheap Russian energy moving and through precisely targeted tariffs. It also punishes countries providing financial support for the deadliest war in Europe since World War II. Why? Because, as we’ve heard from President Zelenskyy’s team, you can evade sanctions, which the Russians have done for years. But you cannot evade tariffs.”

The bill, which has gone through several iterations, still primarily focuses on kneecapping Putin’s war machine in Russia’s ongoing fight with Ukraine.

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But tweaks were needed to get sign-off from the White House. However, it reinserted sanctions targeting Iran’s weapons and energy sectors in the hopes of incentivizing a lasting peace deal as the war in the Middle East marches on.

Key components of the legislation allow for up to 500% tariffs on Russian imports, and tariffs of up to 100% on the top five countries buying Russian energy. And it provides Trump flexibility for when to turn off some aspects of the sanctions.

The tariff authority has proven a hard sell for House Democrats, though their colleagues in the Senate largely bought in.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., helped create the bill and largely spearheaded Democrat support in the Senate.

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Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, walks off the floor after the House of Representatives failed to elect a new speaker of the House on the first round of votes at the U.S. Capitol Building Oct. 17, 2023.(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Blumenthal defended the tariff language in the bill to Fox News Digital.

“If Donald Trump wants to break this law, he will be restrained by the courts, just as when he broke the law on tariffs previously,” he said.

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It now heads to Trump’s desk for his signature.

At least two Democrats signaled early on that they would support the bill; Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., defied their party leaders on Tuesday to help Republicans break gridlock on advancing the legislation.

Their votes rescued the sanctions package from dying on the House floor amid a conservative rebellion over an unrelated issue. A similar move by the pair earlier this month earned a public reprimand from Jeffries, who called it a “breach of trust.”

“Congressman Golden has been a consistent supporter of America’s allies in Ukraine. He didn’t want to see the Russia sanctions bill die in a rule vote after passing with overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate,” Golden’s spokesman told Fox News Digital of the vote.

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com