The Senate overwhelmingly passed a sweeping bipartisan sanctions bill targeting Russia, Iran, and North Korea Thursday, 98-2.
The bill will now move to the president’s desk and leave him with a stark choice—back the bill and potentially hamper hopes of improving relations with the Kremlin, or oppose it, face congressional backlash, and come up against a likely veto-proof majority.
The Trump administration has voiced concern over parts of the legislation, especially a congressional review provision that requires the president to obtain approval before modifying sanctions on the Kremlin. The administration lobbied lawmakers to allow the president more flexibility but those efforts were largely unsuccessful.
If the president signs the legislation, it could put a dent in his stated desire to work constructively with the Kremlin. Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have expressed deep resentment toward the legislation and have threatened retaliation.
“The authors and sponsors of this bill are seriously heading towards destroying any prospects for normalizing relations with Russia,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said this week.
The legislation punishes Russia over its interference in the 2016 election, military moves in Ukraine, and support for Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. Thursday’s bill also hits Iran over its human rights abuses and ballistic program, and applies terrorism sanctions to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Republican leaders in the House pushed to add North Korea sanctions to the legislation last week. The three-country bill easily passed the lower chamber on Tuesday, 419-3.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle urged the president Thursday to sign the bill into law.
“It is up to President Trump to sign this sanctions bill, which passed both the House and Senate with veto-proof majorities, into law,” Democratic whip Steny Hoyer said in a statement. “If he fails to do so, he will have to explain to the American people why he has chosen to empower Vladimir Putin’s Russia over the security of this country and our allies.”
The White House has sent mixed signals about the president’s intentions.
“He may sign the sanctions exactly the way they are, or he may veto the sanctions and negotiate an even tougher deal against the Russians,” White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said Thursday.
While some White House officials have praised the revised legislation passed this week, the president’s position on the bill has remained an open question. Spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday that the president was going to “study” it.
A GOP aide told TWS it was still unclear where the president would come down on the bill.
“It’s been mixed,” the aide said. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”
Lawmakers have pointed out that Congress likely has a veto-proof majority regardless.
