Senate advances Russia sanctions bill championed by late Sen. Lindsey Graham

Senators capped off a day of tributes to their late colleague Lindsey Graham by advancing a sanctions bill he spent his final week of life negotiating.

The measure, recently renamed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, is designed to give the Trump administration more tools to pressure Russia into ending its four-year war against Ukraine.

“It will go after [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, his inner circle and the shadow fleet they use to evade sanctions,” Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker said.

“It will hold accountable those who purchase the most Russian oil and gas,” the Mississippi Republican said. “It also will take aim at China’s investments in Russian weapons production, and it will maintain sanctions pressure on Iran.”

A key piece of the bill would give President Trump authority to impose up to 100% tariffs on the five major purchasers of Russian oil, with China and India leading the pack.

The bill also allows the president to impose tariffs on top purchasers of Russian gas, but includes exceptions to ensure European allies are not targeted.

The sanctions portion would hit wide swaths of the Russian economy, including its energy, financial and defense industries, as well as Russian oligarchs, businesses and even Mr. Putin.

The initial procedural vote on the measure drew a strong bipartisan showing of 86-12, which senators said shows it is on the path to passing as soon as later this week.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Mr. Graham’s co-author, said they designed the bill to serve “scorching sledgehammer sanctions on Russia.”

“This bill says to Vladimir Putin: ‘Your days of war are numbered. You are on the losing side. Better to come to the table now than sacrifice more lives, waste more money, crater your autonomy, destroy your standing in the world,’” the Connecticut Democrat said. “America stands with Ukraine.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who traveled to Washington to attend Mr. Graham’s funeral, met with senators ahead of the vote Tuesday evening.

He told reporters afterward that the bill the Senate is working to pass would provide “important sanctions pressure on Russia” and stop its ability to finance the war.  

“It’s also a big signal to Europe, big signal to Ukraine, big support of our people,” Mr. Zelenskyy said. “So I’m very thankful.”

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman James Risch, Idaho Republican, said Mr. Zelenskyy told senators and a few House members who attended the meeting that the sanctions bill may have more impact on ending the war than anything that’s done on the battlefield. 

Mr. Graham labored over the sanctions bill for more than a year, bringing a bipartisan coalition of senators together and securing a deal on a revamped version with the White House the day before his sudden death.

“This may turn out to be Lindsey Graham’s greatest legislative achievement in a stellar 32-year career,” Mr. Wicker said.

After Mr. Graham’s death, Mr. Trump requested the Senate add provisions renewing Iran sanctions set to expire later this year as he continues his war to permanently end the Middle Eastern nation’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon. Senators complied.

The 12 senators opposing the measure, 11 Democrats and one Republican, are primarily concerned about providing Mr. Trump with more tariff authority. 

Mr. Blumenthal said the measure is narrowly tailored so that Mr. Trump cannot impose sweeping tariffs, and that the absence of the legislation would not stop the president from using a different rationale for any tariffs he wants to impose.  

“We’ve all seen that he’s more than willing to abuse his present authority … even if it is violative of the law, as the Supreme Court has told him,” the senator said. “So we just need to make sure that he obeys the law.”