GOP lawmaker hopes Senate passes Russia sanctions bill this week

Mike Turner said Sunday he hoped the Senate would pass a Russia sanctions bill this week, casting the measure as “one of the legacies” of Lindsey Graham after Graham died Saturday following a “brief and sudden illness.” Turner, an Ohio Republican, said on Face the Nation that the bill would be a signal that “we’re going to be with Ukraine,” and pressed Senate leaders to move while Graham’s push still has momentum.

The bill had been stalled for months while Senate Republicans waited for the Trump administration to give it a go-ahead. On Friday, Graham joined Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, along with GOP Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, to announce that they had reached an agreement with the administration on an updated Russia sanctions package. Turner said the Senate should act this week, while the House has already passed its own version.

It would impose sanctions and tariffs on countries doing business with Russia, including countries that buy Russian oil, gas and uranium, and Graham said the package would give President Donald Trump the ability to levy a 500% tariff on any country that helps Russia. Graham pushed the measure for more than a year and first introduced it last April.

Last July, Graham said the bill would give Trump a “sledgehammer” against Russia’s economy. Turner said the measure already had more than 80 cosponsors, calling that level of support veto-proof, though the Senate still had not brought it to the floor before Graham’s death.

Graham’s death narrowed Senate Republicans’ margin to 52-47 and complicated budget, appropriations and judicial confirmation work. Graham had met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv just days before his death, and Zelenskyy on Sunday called him a “staunch advocate for bipartisan and bicameral support for Ukraine.”

Turner said he discussed the sanctions bill with Graham last week at the annual NATO summit and said Graham’s view showed that “you can be America First and still understand that it doesn’t have to be America alone.” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was in Washington to meet with U.S. officials and members of Congress as Republicans, Democrats and European allies pressed the Trump administration to back tougher action against Moscow.