House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is pumping the brakes on a Senate-passed Russia sanctions bill, saying it could hand President Donald Trump sweeping tariff powers that Democrats worry he'd misuse.
"We haven't had a conversation about it yet," Jeffries told reporters Monday as the House returned from its August recess. He noted that Reps. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) and Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) have expressed "strong opposition" to the legislation.
"It risks providing tariff and sanctions authority to Donald Trump and his administration that we believe they will abuse," Jeffries said. "And so, I have some serious concerns with the legislation."
The measure, championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), cleared the Senate 86-11 in August. If enacted, it would give Trump authority to impose tariffs of up to 100% on goods from major buyers of Russian oil and gas, potentially including India, China, Azerbaijan, Hungary and Slovakia.
Democrats Back Ukraine But Question Tariffs
That authority is driving Democratic resistance even though Jeffries reiterated his support for Ukraine. "Our record on that … has been very clear," he said. "We'll take a look at the sanctions bill and have a caucus conversation about it."
Neal, Meeks and other senior Democrats separately argued Monday that Trump already has broad authority to sanction companies, individuals and vessels supporting Moscow, saying Congress does not need to grant him additional tariff powers.
The stakes extend beyond Russia. India's reliance on Russian crude reached a record 50.83% of its oil imports in July, or about 2.47 million barrels per day, according to Reuters data.
Trump has backed tougher penalties on Russian energy buyers, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy supports congressional action to squeeze Moscow's war revenues.
House Path Grows More Complicated
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called passage a matter of "extreme urgency," arguing on CBS that sanctions could throttle revenue to Russian President Vladimir Putin's "war machine."
The House currently has no vote scheduled. Reuters, in a report on Monday, noted that Ukraine's sanctions commissioner is traveling to Washington to lobby lawmakers as Jeffries says Democrats will hold "serious conversations" about the bill this week.
