Overview

• Senate Majority Leader John Thune signaled he is close to bringing a Russia sanctions bill to the floor that reporting says could enable tariffs of up to 500% on buyers of Russian energy such as China and India.
• A bipartisan Senate package led by Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal has drawn roughly 85 co-sponsors focused on secondary tariffs targeting purchases of Russian oil.
• Speaker Mike Johnson said Congress cannot impose new penalties on its own and described sanctions as requiring a partnership with the president, while calling them long overdue.
• Trump urged NATO members to stop buying Russian oil and floated steep tariffs on China as conditions for launching major sanctions against Moscow.
• Some lawmakers are exploring adding the sanctions measure to upcoming government funding legislation as Russian strikes on Ukraine and a large drone incursion into Polish airspace intensify pressure for action.