GOP Lawmakers Force House Vote on Ukraine Support Act, Imposing Sanctions on Russia

A small bloc of GOP lawmakers defied their leadership and President Donald Trump by forcing the House to soon take up a major bill to deliver US military support to Ukraine while imposing steep sanctions on Russia.

“You Browser Working London Working www”

AsatuNews.co.id

The House vote is expected in early June, and CNN says it would be Congress’ first major pro-Ukraine measure of Trump’s second term, with the GOP-led House on track to vote after the House’s Memorial Day recess.

CNN

CNN reports that California Rep. Kevin Kiley was the final signature needed on a discharge petition, a procedural tool used to circumvent leadership, and Kiley said, "For diplomacy to work here, we need additional leverage."

CNN also quotes Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick saying, "A message to our Ukrainian friends: Help is on the way," after Fitzpatrick helped land the necessary 218 signatures to fast-track the bill to the floor without Johnson’s approval.

The measure is described as the Ukraine Support Act and, if Congress passes it, CNN says it would include strict sanctions on Russian leaders and institutions, including top banks, oil and mining companies, along with 500% tariffs on all Russian goods imported to the US and a ban on imported Russian crude oil.

Separately from the Ukraine vote push, La Nouvelle Tribune reports that Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent announced on Thursday, March 13, a temporary authorization to purchase Russian oil in transit, which triggered bipartisan criticism in Congress.

La Nouvelle Tribune says the U.S. Treasury granted a one-month exemption from Russian oil sanctions, applicable to shipments already loaded at sea no later than March 12 and through April 11, and it reports that some 124 million barrels of Russian crude were currently in transit on the world’s seas.

Fox News

In a joint statement, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, accompanied by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Jeanne Shaheen, demanded Scott Bessent testify before Congress, asserting that Russia would provide intelligence to Iran to target American soldiers and that the measure would provide Moscow additional revenue estimated at $150 million per day.

The same article quotes Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s criticism of the decision, saying, "Russia would provide intelligence to Iran to target American soldiers".

pme.ch likewise says lawmakers criticized the lifting of sanctions on Russian oil stored on ships, and it includes Schumer’s line that the decision was "another example of how Putin has been one of the first beneficiaries of the war".

Fox News reports that Sen. Lindsey Graham told Fox News Digital that Trump has given him the "green light" to move ahead with his long-simmering sanctions package, even as peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine continue to simmer in the background.

“A small bloc of GOP lawmakers defied their leadership — and President Donald Trump — by forcing the House to soon take up a major bill to deliver US military support to Ukraine while imposing steep sanctions on Russia”

CNN

Fox News says Graham believed the bill would actually get a shot because, as Graham put it, "It's never going back on the shelf because President Trump believes he needs it," while lawmakers are out and set to return to Washington, D.C., next week with the primary objective of preventing a partial government shutdown.

Fox News also describes procedural uncertainty over where the sanctions package starts in Congress, quoting Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s position that it should start in the House, and it notes that would require buy-in from House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to either replicate Graham and Blumenthal’s proposal or craft their own.

Meanwhile, Washington Examiner reports that three centrists joined House Democrats to force Speaker Mike Johnson into holding a vote on legislation sending $1.3 billion in aid to Ukraine and instituting new sanctions on Russia, reaching the 218-signature threshold needed for a discharge petition.

Washington Examiner quotes Kevin Kiley saying, "the collapse of the recent ceasefire shows that leverage is needed for diplomacy to succeed," tying the House maneuver to the argument that Congress can act "in a bipartisan way" to strengthen leverage.