The United States Senate voted 86-12 on Tuesday to advance the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, a sweeping piece of legislation that would allow President Trump to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on the five largest purchasers of Russian oil and gas. It passed the same day senators buried the man whose name it carries.
The vote was a tribute to Graham, the South Carolina Republican who died suddenly on July 11 and had championed the sanctions bill for more than a year. It was also a practical show of force: the supermajority vote to invoke cloture means the bill is almost certain to pass the full Senate. Its path through the House is less certain, but the momentum is real.
The legislation targets the countries that buy the most Russian energy. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat who co-authored the bill with Graham, was blunt about who the sanctions are meant to hit. He said China and India are the main culprits, that they purchase the vast majority of oil and gas, that they are fueling Russia’s war machine, and that they are doing the US no favors anywhere else in the world. The other top buyers named in the bill are Slovakia, Hungary, and Azerbaijan.
Under the legislation, the US Trade Representative would reassess the top five purchasers every 180 days and adjust tariff rates based on changes in buying behavior. A separate provision targets countries that facilitate sanctions evasion through shadow fleets, the network of hundreds of aging tankers that Russia uses to move oil past existing restrictions.
The bill also extends the Iran Sanctions Act for five more years, keeping secondary restrictions in place until 2031. This was added at Trump’s insistence and reflects his desire to keep pressure on Tehran even after the recent MOU negotiations. The tariff authority granted to the president is limited to a five-year sunset period, a compromise meant to prevent it from becoming a permanent feature of US trade policy.
Not everyone is on board. The vote was not unanimous, 12 senators opposed it, most of them Democrats who worry about handing Trump new tariff powers. Representatives Richard Neal and Ron Wyden wrote in a joint statement that it is extremely dangerous to give Trump massive new tariff powers, particularly after the disastrous impacts of his corrupt, chaotic, and inflationary tariff spree. The bill’s original version called for 500 percent tariffs on purchasers of Russian goods; Trump reportedly pressured the Senate to dial it back.
The symbolism of the day was hard to miss. Senators voted hours after they had gathered to honor Graham’s memory at the Capitol, and immediately after a closed-door meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was in Washington for Graham’s funeral. Zelensky watched from the Senate gallery as senators lined up to vote, then thanked them publicly. He said the bill is very important, that sanctions against Russia are very important, and that it is not only about money that helps Russia wage its war but also a big signal to Europe, Ukraine, and their people.
The bill is Graham’s last legislative act. Whether it survives the House intact, and whether the threat of 100 percent tariffs actually changes the behavior of Beijing and New Delhi, are questions that will answer themselves in the months ahead.