Key Points and Summary – A powerful, bipartisan Senate bill aimed at imposing harsh sanctions on countries buying Russian oil, like China, has been effectively killed.
-The effort, led by Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal, had overwhelming support but was halted after President Trump announced his own, less severe tariff threat.
-Despite having the votes to pass their “sledgehammer” bill, Senate leadership is now deferring to the White House.
-The move is seen as a power play by President Trump, who reportedly dislikes legislation that would force his hand on foreign policy, preferring to act unilaterally.
No New Sanctions on Russia?
In recent months, a group of Russia hawks in the U.S. Senate, led by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), have been pushing a bill to place strong tariffs on countries that buy Russia’s oil.
“It’s time for the world to act decisively against Russia’s aggression by holding China and others accountable for buying cheap Russian oil that props up Putin’s war machine,” Graham said on X on June 1, the day of Ukraine’s daring drone attack on Russia. “The ever-resourceful Ukraine used creative drone warfare tactics to successfully attack Russian bombers and military assets used to kill Ukrainian citizens and destroy their country.”
After months of Graham and the other senators pushing that sanctions idea, President Donald Trump ended up proposing something similar earlier this month, when he announced new weapons for Ukraine, while threatening secondary tariffs on Russia’s oil partners, should Russia not agree to a ceasefire within 50 days. However, Graham’s proposal had pushed for 500 percent tariffs, much more punishing than the 100 percent tariffs threatened by the White House.
Now, however, the Senate sanctions push looks doomed.
Backing Down
Per the New York Times, the senators have deferred to President Trump’s push, and agreed to back off of the sanctions bill.
“President Trump’s threat to penalize Russia if it fails to reach a cease-fire with Ukraine has halted a bipartisan push in the Senate to impose harsh new sanctions on countries that do business with Moscow, effectively freezing an effort by Congress to apply overwhelming pressure on President Vladimir V. Putin,” the Times reported.
Per the report, the sanctions bill had the support of 83 senators, more than enough to gain passage in the Senate.
“The goal is to end the war honorably and quickly,” Sen. Graham, the main face of the sanctions push, told the Times. He added that “the president adopted the concept we’ve been pushing.”
His Democratic cosponsor, Sen. Blumenthal of Connecticut, also commented to the paper about the development.
While praising the president’s move to threaten Russia with sanctions, Blumenthal told the newspaper that “our bill is better because it’s not just a hammer; it’s a sledgehammer, and it’s stronger and sends a message of unity. So that’s why we’re going to keep pushing.”
The Times piece also revealed Trump’s mindset in negotiating with the Senators about the sanctions approach.
“The president does not like the idea of signing a bill that would effectively require that he take action against Russia. Negotiations on the bill between senators and the White House had become snagged over how much authority the president would have over the sanctions,” the Times said.
The Leader Speaks
Why is the Senate backing off something that a bipartisan majority of the body supports?
“The president, I think, has decided to move sort of unilaterally on that front,” Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the Senate majority leader, said on Fox News this week, per the Times.
Thune did say, however, that the legislation could be revived later.
“We want to work with him and be partners on that,” Mr. Thune added. “And when he green-lights the legislation, we’ll move forward with it.”
Politico had reported, earlier this month, that Thune had pumped the brakes on the sanctions push.
“It sounds like right now the president is going to attempt to do some of this on his own,” the majority leader told reporters on July 14. “If at some point the president concludes that it makes sense and adds value and leverage that he needs in those negotiations to move the bill, then we’ll do it. We’ll be ready to go.”
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
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Jim
July 27, 2025 at 5:59 pm
I’m glad to hear it. But he is from South Carolina and he’s determined to have the warhawks ride again for the Lost Cause (Ukraine).
There are solid geopolitical, trade, and international reasons for not following through on his policy proposal.
Essentially, Graham’s Law would introduce Napoleon’s Continental System which was an economic warfare strategy implemented by Napoleon Bonaparte to cripple Britain’s economy by blocking trade with continental Europe. (But with Russia, instead, it’s in the way of secondary sanctions on countries who trade with Russia.)
Blockade is war. Do we want to alienate India? Do we want to alienate Brazil? Do we want to alienate China? Do we want to alienate the whole world who trades with Russia? (And, anybody else who wants a fee trading system in the World… not dictated from Washington.)
Mr. Graham is a warhawk extraordinary… with no sense of limits… or an understanding of the repercussions & consequences of his policy proposals.
I can only hope he is a warmonger gadfly alone in the Senate, running around being a clown on T. V. and getting pushed up by defense contractors with no conscience.
Do we want to go to total economic warfare with the whole World?
What a nub job! What worries me is how many more nub jobs there are in the Senate?
I just don’t know.