'Not only did we pass a new round of tough sanctions for Russia's meddling in our election, we codified existing sanctions into law, making them harder to lift, and we moved to make Congress - not the president - the final arbiter of sanctions relief when necessary, ' top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said before the vote.
In a rare show of bipartisanship on foreign policy, the Senate voted overwhelmingly on Thursday for a bill that would toughen sanctions on Russian Federation for interfering in the 2016 US elections, as well slap new sanctions on Iran for efforts to expand its long range missile program.
So far, at least, that has been a bet worth taking for the White House, though the new penalties against Russian Federation are also built into a bill that gives Trump something he wants: new sanctions on Iran - so that raises the stakes for the president should he threaten a veto.
Mr. Putin said there was no reason to impose new sanctions and said at the heart of the new measures was the controversy in the US around contacts between President Donald Trump's campaign team and Russian officials. During the election, he praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, praising his leadership in contrast to then-US President Barack Obama and signaling that he'd be open to warming US relations with Russia.
Even the president's staunchest supporters voted in lockstep with his sharpest critics Wednesday to endorse the Russian Federation sanctions measure, applying what Banking Committee chairman Mike Crapo referred to as "a correct amount of pressure" on Russian Federation that will "ensure Congress exerts proper oversight over the use of these powerful sanctions".
House and Senate committees are investigating Russia's meddling and potential links to the Trump campaign.
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Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and co-author of the bill, said he's been updating the State Department.
Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, ticked off a series of Russian aggressions that he said have gone without retaliation: annexation of Crimea, intervention in Syria, meddling in Ukraine and threatening North Atlantic Treaty Organisation countries, as well as the USA election interference.
Moscow has repeatedly denied allegations of meddling in the U.S. election.
The measure adding sanctions on Iran due to its ballistic missile program, support for terrorism and human rights breaches passed Thursday in a 98-2 vote. The only two senators not to vote for the bill were Republicans Rand Paul and Mike Lee.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told a Senate panel Tuesday he was wary of actions that could interfere with the administration's efforts to improve relations with Russian Federation. The State Department has said that talks are ongoing with Russian Federation over the possible return of the compounds, underscoring the Trump administration's interest in securing more cooperation from Moscow in ending the Syrian civil war. These latest sanctions are in retaliation for Russia's interference in last year's presidential election.
It also allows Congress to review any administration attempts to ease, suspend or end sanctions.
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