What began as a bill slapping sanctions on Iran for ballistic missile development and human rights violations is being mired in minutiae over a single added word—“Russia.”
Leadership in both chambers and parties have expressed resolve about passing sanctions on the Kremlin. But the joint Russia-Iran legislation has repeatedly hit difficulties, in part due to the politically charged nature of its subject.
The sanctions bill incorporates penalties on the Kremlin over election interference and would trigger congressional review in case the administration tries to ease or suspend sanctions on Russia. Administration officials have raised concerns that the bill will hamstring the president in talks with the Kremlin.
The bill passed the Senate 98-2 in June. Since then, the Senate agreed on a fix to a constitutional issue, raised by the House, which requires that bills dealing with revenue originate in the lower chamber.
“This language was given to us by the House. We passed exactly what they wanted,” Senate Foreign Relations committee chairman Bob Corker told reporters.
Senate Democrats were wary about the holdup, with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accusing Republicans of using a “procedural excuse” to cover for Trump. He eventually agreed to the fix, but urged the House not to weaken the legislation amid reports that administration officials were expressing discomfort with the bill’s effect on executive authority.
“I want to put the House on notice. If they water down the bill, weaken the sanctions, add loopholes to the legislation, they will find stiff resistance here in the Senate,” Schumer said.
Another bump cropped up toward the end of June. When the Senate fixed the constitutional issue, it also made another, procedural change. Now that change is drawing concern from some House Democrats, who say that it detracts from the minority’s power to force a vote and hold the administration accountable if Trump tries to ease or lift Russia sanctions.
Maryland senator Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, described the issue as one of interpretation.
“I think that’s easily resolved. I don’t think that’s a hold up,” he said. “There was an interpretation as to how the review process worked. We told them to give us whatever language they want on that.”
Some House Democrats suspect the change was intended to help the Trump administration.
“There are some proof points that the House Republicans are carrying the White House’s water on this for sure,” a Democratic aide told TWS. “As it relates to the issue of the expedited procedures—that language is consistent with them wanting to do the White House’s bidding on this and give them as much flexibility as possible.”
The White House has been talking to lawmakers about amending the bill with national security waivers. And Treasury and State Department officials expressed concern over the congressional review clause with House staff last week, the Associated Press reported.
A House Foreign Affairs committee aide told TWS the White House had not been pressuring the panel.
“The White House has not lobbied the committee,” the aide said.
Speaker Paul Ryan and House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Ed Royce have also expressed a desire to get the legislation passed.
“House Republicans are prepared to send the Iran-Russia sanctions bill papers back, which will allow the Senate to automatically resend us a fixed bill, but House Democrats are blocking that and demanding their own changes to the bill,” said Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong.
Corker echoed that assessment.
“All of a sudden, the day before recess, the House Democrats said wait a minute—this doesn’t give us the ability to amend congressional review,” he said. “House Republicans, as I understand it, said fix it however way you wish, we weren’t intending for you not to have that ability.”
Still, the Tennessee senator stressed that the issue now was not about technicalities, but whether the House intended to take up the sanctions bill.
“Y’all have made a mountain out of less than a mole hill over the fix. The fix is nothing, and the fix is fixed,” he told reporters.
“The issue is: Does the House want to pass a Russia sanctions bill or not?” he said. “Because they can do whatever they wish to solve this problem, all they have to do is send the bill over here and it’ll be done. It’s not a Senate issue in any form or fashion.”
Energy companies have also raised concerns that the legislation could disadvantage U.S. businesses—an issue lawmakers are likely to tackle in the weeks ahead.
As to executive branch discomfort over the congressional review clause, Corker said he understood it—but that he remained strongly in favor of Congress having more say in foreign policy.
“No administration likes for Congress to play a role in anything they’re doing, especially foreign policy—and I understand that, but I sure hope that the House will take up the bill,” he said. “Could the White House be working against it? They well could be. Have they contacted us to work against it? No.”
