Russia sanctions bill

Russia sanctions bill gains bipartisan traction in Senate

By ELANA SCHOR

Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) are stepping up a push for action on their bipartisan proposal to hit Russia with automatic new sanctions if it interferes in future U.S. elections.

Rubio and Van Hollen have asked bipartisan leaders of the Banking and Foreign Relations committees, which share jurisdiction over sanctions legislation, to hold a hearing on and mark up their plan to impose new penalties on Moscow within 10 days after the director of national intelligence determines that further electoral meddling has occurred.

Introduced in January, the Rubio-Van Hollen bill picked up eight new cosponsors on Thursday, evenly divided between both parties. The bill’s momentum has grown steadily since Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) mentioned it on Tuesday as one option on the table for the Senate to respond to President Donald Trump’s warm posture toward Vladimir Putin’s government, although some senators have raised concerns that its broad reach may hit U.S. allies.

McConnell on Thursday asked the Banking and Foreign Relations panels to hold new hearings into the implementation of last year’s bipartisan Russia sanctions bill and to suggest possible further steps that lawmakers can take to counter Russian malfeasance ahead of November’s midterm elections. In the meantime, Trump announced later on Thursday that he would extend an invitation for Putin to visit Washington this fall.

“The Senate has the opportunity to highlight to the American public the real threats that foreign interference in our future elections pose, and to act to deter future foreign interference and defend our country,” Rubio and Van Hollen wrote to the Banking and Foreign Relations panels leaders’ in a letter sent Thursday, a copy of which was shared with POLITICO.

“We are just 110 days away from our elections in November. The time to come together and act is now.”