The Senate voted Tuesday to take up legislation to reverse the Trump administration’s decision to lift sanctions on three Russian companies, after several Republicans went against President Trump by backing it.
Republicans joined Democrats to bring the measure up for debate just hours after Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin met privately with GOP lawmakers to convince them the sanctions should be lifted.
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The measure is ultimately destined for defeat later in the week because it must pass a 60-vote threshold, and the 60 votes aren’t there. But the votes on Tuesday give Democrats at least a day of floor time to argue that the sanctions should remain in place.
Democrats demanded a vote on the resolution after the Treasury Department announced plans to drop sanctions on three Russian companies because they are no longer controlled by Oleg Deripaska. The Russian billionaire remains blacklisted by the U.S. because of his role in Russia’s interference with the U.S. election in 2016.
The Trump administration says it made the right decision because Deripaska was no longer on the board of the companies and because the sanctions were aimed at him, not the companies.
Mnuchin said the three companies had been listed only because of their connection to Deripaska, and he said career intelligence and Treasury officials agreed to lift the sanctions.
“We put together an agreement that we think meets the laws and the requirements to delist them,” Mnuchin said.
But Democrats and some Republicans believe the sanctions should remain. On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called up the resolution disapproving of the Trump administration’s decision, which is allowed under the law that calls for the sanctions. Under that law, passage of the resolution by the House and Senate would reverse the Trump administration’s decision.
Schumer called the plan to lift sanctions a “kiss-up” to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., moved to block Schumer’s effort, but the Senate rejected McConnell’s effort in a 42-57 vote that saw several Republicans vote with Democrats.
The Senate then voted 57-42 to take up the resolution.
Republican leaders said before the vote that the sanctions should be lifted because the Russian companies agreed to downgrade Deripaska’s role in how they operate.
“They did follow the rules, they did the things we asked them to do, and under the sanctions law theoretically they ought to have the sanctions lifted,” Senate Majority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., told the Washington Examiner.
But others, such as Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., disagreed. Rubio told the Washington Examiner that while Deripaska’s role seems to have been diminished, “I still think he retains operational control of the company.”
