House Democratic leaders openly oppose Graham Russia sanctions bill

According to the outlet, Republicans will need votes from some Democrats to offset defections from their own isolationist wing and pass the measure.

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

That has forced Democrats to choose between two issues that are both central to the party: support for Ukraine and resistance to granting Trump broader powers over trade policy.

Gregory Meeks, Don Beyer, and Richard Neal — the top Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the Joint Economic Committee and the Ways and Means Committee — announced their opposition to the bill in a statement last week.

“House Democrats are rock solid in our support for Ukraine, but the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia And Iran Act would do more harm than good,” they said. “This bill would dramatically expand presidential tariff authorities while failing to mandate sanctions on Russia, both of which are unacceptable.”

Rep. Jared Golden, a centrist who often breaks with Democratic leadership, told Axios last week that he would “almost certainly” vote for the bill.

“I think the sanctions [are good] but I am also generally supportive of tariffs,” Golden said.

Rep. Marcy Kaptur, co-chair of the bipartisan Ukraine caucus in Congress, said she was “reviewing [the bill] very carefully” and “working together with the Ukraine caucus.”

“I think it's important to send Russia a message that she needs to stand down,” Kaptur said.

The other co-chair of the Ukraine caucus, Rep. Mike Quigley, told Axios last week that he would “see what it looks like,” and that his vote would depend on the exact wording.

Meeks and former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, another strong supporter of Ukraine, had tried to amend the bill to make the trade language more acceptable.

But the Republican-controlled House Rules Committee rejected those proposed changes on Sept. 14 and sent the bill forward for a procedural vote on the House floor.

The Graham-Blumenthal sanctions bill

The original bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate in early April 2025. It proposed new sanctions against Russia, including a 500% tariff on imports from countries that continue buying Russian oil and other raw materials. The co-authors were Sens. Lindsey Graham, a Republican, and Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat.

In June 2025, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration was trying to push Graham to soften the bill. Politico also wrote that the measure could be significantly diluted before passage.

On July 10, 2026, Graham said during a news conference in Kyiv that he had reached an agreement with the White House on a new version of the Russia sanctions bill. He died the next day.

On July 28, the U.S. Senate held its first procedural vote on the bill to impose new sanctions on Russia and Iran. 86 senators supported the measure.

On Aug. 7, the Senate approved the broader sanctions bill against Russia and Iran by an overwhelming margin, 86-11.