House passes sweeping Russia sanctions bill, sending it to Trump's desk

The measure passed the House in a 262-159 vote.

The legislation, H.R. 5334, formally known as the “Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026” now heads to President Donald Trump for his signature after clearing the Senate.

The bill significantly increases sanctions pressure on Russia, empowering the president to impose tariffs of up to 100% on countries that continue to buy Russian energy exports.

The legislation also expands restrictions on Russia’s military leadership, financial and energy sectors, foreign suppliers, and “shadow fleet” vessels, while tightening export controls on goods Moscow could use to manufacture weapons.

President Donald Trump is expected to review and sign the bill within the coming days once it reaches the White House, according to Raufoglu’s report.

The Graham-Blumenthal Russia sanctions bill

A bill imposing new sanctions on Russia was introduced in the U.S. Senate in early April 2025. It called for a 500% tariff on goods imported from countries that continued buying Russian oil and other raw materials. Republican Lindsey Graham and Democrat Richard Blumenthal co-sponsored the legislation.

The Wall Street Journal reported in June 2025 that the Trump administration was quietly lobbying Graham to soften the bill's provisions. Politico similarly predicted at the time that the bill would undergo significant dilution before a final vote.

At his final press conference in Kyiv on July 10, 2026, Senator Graham announced that a breakthrough agreement had been finalized with the White House on a revised version of the sanctions package.

According to Reuters, President Trump waited until July 2026 – just days before Senator Lindsey Graham’s sudden death on July 11 – to authorize Republican congressional leaders to schedule a vote on the bill.

The U.S. Senate held its first procedural vote on the bill on July 28, with 86 senators voting in favor of advancing the legislation.

Axios reported on September 15 that the Democratic leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives was openly opposing the sanctions bill, although not all Democrats appear ready to follow that line.

The difficulty for many Democrats is that the legislation would allow President Donald Trump’s administration to impose 100% tariffs on the five largest importers of Russian oil.