The House has passed a sweeping Russia and Iran sanctions package that gives President Trump new tariff authority over major buyers of Russian energy.
The final vote was 262-159, sending the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 to the White House.
That is a major shift from where the legislation stood just days ago. House Democratic leaders opposed the package, but enough rank-and-file Democrats joined Republicans to carry it across the finish line.
Fox News reported that the bill passed despite Democratic objections to its tariff language. The package authorizes tariffs of up to 500 percent on Russian imports and up to 100 percent on goods from the five largest purchasers of Russian energy.
It also targets Russian officials, oligarchs, banks, financial institutions, and the so-called shadow fleet used to move Russian oil around existing sanctions. The bill now goes to President Trump for his signature.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, announced the result shortly after the vote:
🚨 I'm proud to announce the House just passed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 by a vote of 262 to 159 — fulfilling one of Sen. Graham's final wishes.
This bill will cripple the Russian war machine and finally bring Putin to the negotiating table.…
— Michael McCaul (@RepMcCaul) September 16, 2026
The legislation is named for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who spent more than a year negotiating the package with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., other lawmakers, and the Trump administration.
An official summary from Sen. Darline Graham’s office says the measure imposes primary and secondary sanctions on Russian officials, oligarchs, relatives, foreign persons, banks, and other financial institutions.
The same summary says the president may impose targeted duties of up to 100 percent on the top five importers of Russian crude oil, the top five importers of Russian natural gas, and the top five countries facilitating Russian oil sanctions evasion. It also extends the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 for five years.
The sanctions reach Russia’s shadow fleet and foreign people or vessels used by the Russian government to evade existing restrictions. That provision is intended to address the network of tankers and intermediaries that keeps Russian energy moving despite Western penalties.
The Senate approved the package 86-11 in August before sending it to the House. Graham’s office said the measure was designed to increase American leverage in efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war while preserving restrictions on funding for Iran’s energy and weapons sectors.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., argued that buyers of Russian energy should face a direct economic consequence:
We need to send a very strong message not just to Vladimir Putin, but to China and to anybody who is buying Russian oil and gas, that they are going to pay a price for that because they are facilitating Russia's unprovoked and horrific war in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/gCgnMOuaqc
— Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (@SenatorShaheen) September 16, 2026
The tariff authority remained the central point of dispute in the House.
The House Rules Committee’s official bill page shows that Democrats proposed amendments to strike the secondary-tariff section, identify the countries initially eligible for the duties, narrow the waiver standard, and clarify that the European Union is not a country for purposes of the tariff provision.
Other proposed changes would have authorized $15 billion in foreign military financing for Ukraine and removed open-ended presidential waiver authority. The committee reported the rule by a 7-3 vote on September 14.
The House then agreed to the rule 214-211 on September 15. It was a closed process for the sanctions measure, meaning the submitted amendments were not made part of the final floor vote.
Instead, the chamber considered one motion to concur in the Senate amendments to House Resolution 5334.
That procedure sent the Senate-negotiated package to an up-or-down decision without another round of changes.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said he supported Ukraine but opposed legislation that did not mandate sanctions on Russia while expanding Trump’s tariff authority:
We will always stand with the Ukrainian people until victory is won.
But I cannot support legislation that fails to mandate sanctions on Russia.
While giving Donald Trump additional Tariff authority that he will use to raise costs on everyday Americans. pic.twitter.com/2CZyqrKQS8
— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) September 16, 2026
Blumenthal’s office describes the tariff power as targeted at countries buying the vast majority of Russian oil or gas or enabling sanctions evasion. The office says the provision is limited to the five largest importers in each category.
The official account says the broader sanctions apply to Russian officials, oligarchs and their relatives, foreign actors, banks, financial institutions, and the shadow fleet. It also says the energy-buyer tariff authority was narrowed during negotiations rather than applied to every country purchasing Russian fuel.
Blumenthal and Lindsey Graham first introduced their sanctions effort in April 2025. They spent more than a year building support in Congress and negotiating with the administration before the Senate passed the revised package.
The Iran provision prevents the existing sanctions authority covering Iran’s energy and weapons sectors from expiring at the end of 2026. With the House vote complete, the next formal step is action by President Trump.
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.
What are your thoughts?
