The Lone Republican Who Voted Against Advancing Bill to Put Tougher Sanctions on Russia
· Time
The Senate opted to advance a sweeping Russia sanctions bill backed by the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, but amid the bipartisan support there was one notable “nay” from a GOP lawmaker.
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Named in honor of Graham, who died unexpectedly earlier this month, the bill advanced by a 86-12 vote late Tuesday, with Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky the only Republican to vote against it.
Paul, who has previously raised issues with former versions of the bill, argued the legislation is the “latest counterproductive attempt to hold Russia accountable for its war against Ukraine, now well into its fifth year.”
“This legislation is a tariff bill that seems to have been written with such blind rage that, rather than compel a change in Vladimir Putin’s behavior, its punitive measures would make American families poorer and undermine our national interests,” he said last week, in an opinion piece for Fox News.
Some of Paul’s concerns regarding the “Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026” were shared by others, with Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who caucuses with Democrats, and 10 Democratic lawmakers also voting “nay.”
Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire said she couldn’t pledge her support for the bill as it “gives the President new authority to impose tariffs, even on our allies. I do not think tariffs, which are paid for by American businesses and consumers, will help Ukraine win this war.”
Similarly, a spokesperson for Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia told TIME the lawmaker could simply not support the tariff powers included in the current version of the bill.
“Sen. Ossoff continues to support Ukraine’s valiant self-defense against intolerable Russian brutality and aggression,” the statement read. “He does not support the provisions of this bill that delegate massive new tariff authorities to a President who has demonstrated he will wield tariffs recklessly and destructively.”
President Donald Trump’s global tariff efforts, the majority of which were struck down by a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year, remain a contentious issue. Just last week, Trump announced a new round of tariffs on more than 80 countries.
Graham—a longtime supporter of Ukraine and one of the Senate's most outspoken foreign policy hawks—spent more than a year negotiating the legislation, which stands to impose tougher sanctions on Moscow and penalize countries that continue to buy Russian oil, gas, and other exports. Essentially, it's intended to cut revenues from the sale of Russia's energy for its war on Ukraine.
A key section of the bill states that “not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall, notwithstanding any other provision of law, increase the rate of duty for all goods, including oil, natural gas, liquefied natural gas, petroleum, petroleum products, petrochemical products, coal, and coal products, imported into the United States from the Russian Federation to a rate of up to 500 percent ad valorem.”
Regarding the President’s tariff authority, if the bill were to become law, it would allow Trump to place tariffs of up to 100% on the top five purchasers of Russian oil and natural gas, among other penalties.
Graham announced during a visit to Kyiv, just shortly before his death, that he had secured the White House’s approval on his revised text.
The latest iteration also includes a last-minute addition of extended sanctions against Iran, at the request of Trump. Following Graham’s passing, and amid the resumption of the Iran war, Trump said on July 19: “Republicans should add Iran to the Russian Sanctions Bill. That’s what Lindsey wanted to do, and it was going to happen.”
The gathering of Senators and international leaders for Graham’s funeral service in Washington on Tuesday set the ideal stage for the bill to be discussed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who had earlier sat down with Trump in the Oval Office, was hosted by the bill’s bipartisan leaders in the evening.
Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire joined Republican Senators Jim Risch of Idaho, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, and Katie Britt of Alabama facilitated Zelensky meeting other supporters of the legislation and allowed him to address the Senate.
Before watching the bill advance inside the Senate chamber, Zelensky told reporters: “Sanctions pressure on Russia is very important and it's not only about money. It's also a big signal to Europe and a big signal to Ukraine, a big support of our people.”
An earlier version of the legislation drafted by Graham would have authorized the President to impose 500% tariffs on Russian products, as well as tariffs of up to 500% on countries that purchased Russian oil and gas.
Paul argued those provisions would "cause an economic calamity on a scale never before seen in" America.
But concerns remain regarding the tariff authority still afforded to Trump, should the legislation go all the way—meaning the bill’s chances of passing the Senate and the House of Representatives once it resumes at the end of the summer are not guaranteed.
Democratic Rep. Gregory W. Meeks of New York, ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has already raised "serious” concerns.
“This is not so much a sanctions bill as it is a massive backdoor authority for President Trump to impose more tariffs, including on our European allies, that hurt American families,” he said upon reviewing the text earlier this month. “The sanctions the bill does contain are entirely at Donald Trump’s discretion, and he has made clear repeatedly that he would rather waive sanctions on Russia than impose new ones.”