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A trio of Democrats are raising alarm that a bipartisan sanctions bill targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine gives President Trump unacceptable tariff authorities.
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the Sanctioning Russia Act 2026, released Tuesday, amounts to a “Trojan horse for tariff authorities he [Trump] has repeatedly abused.”
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oreg.), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), the ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said the legislation is “a prescription for bedlam and higher tariffs.”
“It is extremely dangerous to give Trump massive new tariff powers, particularly after we’ve seen the disastrous impacts of his corrupt, chaotic, and inflationary tariff spree,” Wyden and Neal wrote.
“Congress must stop outsourcing responsibility for trade and tariffs to a runaway executive who is more interested in consolidating his own power than in the welfare of the American people.”
The Russia sanctions bill would allow the president to impose tariffs on the top five purchasers of Russian energy, and countries which facilitate Russia sanctions evasion. The tariffs have a ceiling of 100 percent, and there are exemptions to protect allies in Europe and Asia.
Wyden, Neal and Meeks said in their statements that they support sanctions on Russia, but not at the expense of giving Trump tariff authority. The Supreme Court in February struck down the bulk of Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, ruling that his use of an emergency statute to remake global trade was unlawful.
Meeks called for Senate colleagues to engage on his Ukraine Support Act, which passed the House in June with 18 Republican votes.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), who voted in favor of Meeks’ Ukraine legislation, told The Hill on Wednesday that he “may have to have a conversation with him” about supporting the Sanctioning Russia Act 2026. He said he’s talked with Speaker Johnson about bringing the bill to the floor, and is “working on” getting support from Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), a former House majority leader influential with his party.
The emerging Democratic opposition to the Russia sanctions bill signals a potential complication in plans to quickly pass the legislation, which gained momentum as a way of offering a tribute to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who died suddenly on Saturday night.
Graham, the bill’s original co-sponsor and champion, spent the week preceding his death reaching a breakthrough with President Trump to support the bill’s passage and traveled to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Voldoymyr Zelensky.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), the bill’s original co-sponsor along with Graham, defended the tariff authorities as “narrow.”
The text of the bill also provides exceptions to the tariffs, including European countries and Japan, which support Ukraine but still purchase Russian energy.
Blumenthal said on Tuesday that he believes there are enough votes in the Senate to bring the bill to the floor quickly – alluding to the 60-vote threshold needed to pass in the upper chamber.
But Wyden told The Hill he is speaking with his colleagues and said they are “torn” on whether to support the legislation. They are opposed to Russia’s war against Ukraine but concerned about handing Trump greater authority.
Wyden said his team is looking at procedural options to oppose the vote.
“Trump is increasing his unilateral authority to do anything he wants with tariffs,” Wyden warned. The senator led the effort in a successful October vote on a non-binding resolution that rebuked the president’s use of tariffs, peeling away four Republican senators.
“We’re looking procedurally at the options, but most senators are very torn when they look at the issue,” he said. “On the one hand, you don’t like the Russians, have sympathy with Ukraine. But on the other hand, you don’t want to give Trump more powers.”
Add as preferred source on Google Tags Gregory Meeks Lindsey Graham Michael McCaul Richard Blumenthal Richard Neal Ron Wyden Steny Hoyer Vladimir PutinCopyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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