House rebukes Trump for easing Russia sanctions

The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to block the Trump administration from lifting sanctions on a Russian oligarch with deep ties to Vladimir Putin.

The effort, a joint resolution of disapproval, would overturn the Treasury Department’s December decision to ease sanctions on companies tied to Oleg Deripaska, who was sanctioned last year as part of a broader congressional push to punish Moscow for interfering in the 2016 presidential election.

A similar Senate effort failed Wednesday, ensuring that the resolution will not advance to President Donald Trump’s desk. But the 362-53 House vote on Thursday represented yet another bipartisan rebuke of the Trump administration’s policies toward the Kremlin and further exposed GOP discontent with the president’s foreign policy goals.

“Because we cannot be sure that we have removed the heavy hand of this Russian oligarch, I cannot support the delisting of these sanctioned entities at this point in time,” said Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Echoing many of his colleagues, McCaul said the Treasury Department’s arguments for lifting the sanctions were “not very compelling.” Trump and his administration have come under fire from lawmakers, including Republicans, for their policies and posture toward Russia in light of its election meddling and its incursions into Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

“It’s hard to defend it. Some of the guys on the other side of the aisle may like Trump, but they’re not going to stand down when it’s such a clear situation,” Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the foreign affairs committee, told POLITICO. “There’s no path forward … but there is a path forward in terms of making it clear to the American public that something smells rotten.”

In the Senate, 11 Republicans joined Democrats in backing the measure, despite Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s efforts to keep his caucus together. It failed to clear the 60-vote threshold, ensuring that Thursday’s House vote was simply a symbolic rebuke of the Trump administration.

Under the Russia sanctions package that both chambers approved in 2017, Congress has the power to reverse any effort by the Trump administration to alter the sanctions regime. But some Senate Republicans viewed the Democrat-led measure as simply an attempt to embarrass Trump.

After monthslong negotiations with Deripaska, the Treasury Department announced last month that it would ease sanctions on Rusal, EN+ and EuroSibEnergo, three companies tied to the Russian billionaire. In exchange, Deripaska will be required to relinquish his majority ownership of EN+ and to appoint Americans to his corporate boards.

In the meantime, lawmakers are pressing the Trump administration for more information about the arrangement between the U.S. and Deripaska. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said he doubted the Treasury Department used all its leverage during the negotiations.

Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, opposed the resolution and said in a statement that the Treasury Department’s efforts to change Russia’s behavior through the use of biting sanctions were working.

“Adjusting sanctions on companies that help us punish and isolate Russian bad actors like Oleg Deripaska will encourage more companies to cooperate with America to severely hobble Russia,” Brady said.

 

Source:Politico.com