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.
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left → vote → authority
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.
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who → pass → July
The legislation passed in a 262 to 159 vote.
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legislation → pass → vote
Fifty-three Democrats voted with 203 Republicans to pass the bill.
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Democrats → vote → bill
Seven Republicans and 152 Democrats opposed it.
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Republicans → oppose → 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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It → come → Ukraine
"What we're not for is giving more tariff authority to this president," Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., said during debate on the bill.
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Neal → give → bill
"There is no guarantee in this legislation that the president could not use these tariffs against Ukraine if he decided to do so.
uncertain
he → be → Ukraine
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."
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friends → be → side
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.
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bill → say → 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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relief → be → day
The bill was led in the House by Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, a longtime supporter of Ukraine.
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bill → lead → Ukraine
"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.
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McCaul → describe → debate
"We shared a fundamental belief that America is strongest at home when it projects strength abroad.
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it → share → strength
This legislation does exactly that.
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legislation → do → that
It targets the money that fuels Russia's war machine.
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that → target → 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.
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that → sanction → tariffs
It also punishes countries providing financial support for the deadliest war in Europe since World War II.
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It → punish → II
Because, as we've heard from President Zelenskyy's team, you can evade sanctions, which the Russians have done for years.
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Russians → hear → years
But you cannot evade tariffs."
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you → 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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which → go → Ukraine
But tweaks were needed to get sign-off from the White House.
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tweaks → need → 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.
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war → reinserte → East
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.
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components → allow → energy
And it provides Trump flexibility for when to turn off some aspects of the sanctions.
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it → provide → sanctions
The tariff authority has proven a hard sell for House Democrats, though their colleagues in the Senate largely bought in.
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colleagues → prove → Senate
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., helped create the bill and largely spearheaded Democrat support in the Senate.
Blumenthal defended the tariff language in the bill to Fox News Digital.
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Blumenthal → help → 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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he → want → tariffs
It now heads to Trump's desk for his signature.
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It → head → signature
At least two Democrats signaled early on that they would support the bill;
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they → signal → 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.
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Republicans → defy → legislation
Their votes rescued the sanctions package from dying on the House floor amid a conservative rebellion over an unrelated issue.
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votes → rescue → issue
A similar move by the pair earlier this month earned a public reprimand from Jeffries, who called it a "breach of trust.
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who → earn → trust
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.
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spokesman → want → vote
The Aporia
