'So many loopholes': Democratic House leader Jeffries flags concerns over Russia sanctions bill - US politics live The Guardian Trump gains a tariff weapon against China and India. Will he use it? CNBC India warns new US...
Jeffries said the legislation had so many loopholes that sanctions harming Russia might not be applied
Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). Photograph: Aaron Schwartz/Reuters View image in fullscreen Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). Photograph: Aaron Schwartz/Reuters Chris Hippensteel (now) and Tom Ambrose (earlier) Thu 17 Sep 2026 07.42 EDT First published on Thu 17 Sep 2026 06.26 EDT Share From 2h ago 06.26 EDT Democratic House leader Jeffries flags concerns as House passes Russia sanctions bill Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said the Russia sanctions bill had "so many loopholes" as Congress passed the sweeping bill to give Donald Trump the power to raise tariffs on top buyers of Russian energy.
The Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 passed in a 262-159 vote on the last day before Congress goes on recess ahead of the midterm elections. Graham, who died earlier this year, co-authored and submitted the bill more than a year and a half ago.
But Jeffries said the legislation had so many loopholes that sanctions harming Russia might not be applied.
"What this legislation will do is give Donald Trump, perhaps, unfettered authority to unleash tariffs on the American people," the New York lawmaker said as he announced he would vote no.
Why in the world would this Congress give this president additional authority to visit that kind of economic harm on the American people?
The bill would mandate new sanctions on Russian political and military officials, and foreign networks helping to supply Russia's war machine and evade existing sanctions. It would also target Russia's so-called fleet of "shadow tankers", which have allowed the country to continue to ship crude around the world despite sanctions on its energy exports.
It would also allow Trump to impose tariffs of up to 100% on the top purchasers of Russian energy, including China, as well as other countries helping the Kremlin evade sanctions.
Democratic staffers supporting the bill said that it offered a "last chance" to increase sanctions on Russia before Ukraine entered a "long winter". Russia has improved the drone technology it has used to strike Ukrainian infrastructure as Kyiv has suffered a shortage of anti-air missiles, leaving the country in a dire position.
Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican supporting the bill, called it the US Congress' "Churchill vs Chamberlain Moment on Russia".
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