Senate advances Graham-sponsored Russia sanctions bill after Zelenskyy appeal, House passage uncertain

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared at the U.S. Capitol shortly after Senator Lindsey Graham’s funeral and addressed a closed-door Senate hearing, emphasizing Ukraine’s need for U.S. assistance, including Patriot missiles, expanded Starlink access and, most urgently, a sanctions package targeting Russia’s oil and gas earnings. Senators and representatives listened as Zelenskyy highlighted the impact of the legislation on Ukrainian morale and military capability.

The Senate voted the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act into law that night, with a final tally of 86-11, and subsequently sent it to the House for consideration. The bill seeks to pressure countries such as China and India to reduce purchases of Russian energy and would grant the president authority to impose tariffs of up to 100% on goods from those markets.

“We need this legislation,” Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said, adding that both troops and the Ukrainian people depend on it for morale.

“You could feel palpably in the room a sense that — Zelenskyy’s confidence of their ability to hold and to persevere,” Representative Steny Hoyer said.

“This is not so much a sanctions bill as it is a massive backdoor authority for President Trump to impose more tariffs, including on our European allies, that hurt American families,” Representative Gregory Meeks said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson now oversees a Republican-controlled chamber that has expressed reluctance to engage in overseas conflicts, and several Democratic lawmakers have raised objections to the bill’s tariff provisions, fearing insufficient congressional oversight. Advocacy groups, such as Razom for Ukraine, stress that passing the legislation would signal continued international support for Ukraine despite political challenges.

The next steps for the measure remain uncertain as the House debates the balance between sanctioning Russia and limiting executive tariff powers.