RUSSIA SANCTIONS: Congress is poised this week to force President Trump‘s hand, as well as handcuff him in the future, by passing a sweeping Russian sanctions bill that would not only punish Moscow for meddling in the U.S. elections, but would sharply limit the president’s ability to grant sanctions relief down the road. The bill passed the Senate by a near unanimous 98-2 vote, and is expected to pass easily in the House tomorrow. That will puts Trump in a tight spot. If he vetoes the bill, he risks feeding the perception that’s he too eager to please Russian President Vladimir Putin. If he signs it, he’ll be allowing Congress to limit his flexibility in dealing with Russia as he tries to forge a new relationship with Putin.

MIXED MESSAGE: While White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders signaled Trump will sign the sanctions bill in her appearance on ABC yesterday, her boss White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said on CNN that the president hasn’t yet decided. “He hasn’t made the decision yet to sign that bill one way or the other,” Scaramucci said. But he also said Trump remains unconvinced Russia interfered in the election, despite the consensus of the U.S. intelligence community. “If, in fact, he makes a decision that it’s 100 percent true, he is going to be super tough on Russia. But let him — let him — let him do it at his own time and pace.”