Sanctions bill clears hurdle
WASHINGTON — Congress’ push to enact far-reaching sanctions against Russia appeared to overcome a final obstacle Wednesday after a key Senate Republican backed off concerns about a House bill — passed overwhelmingly one day earlier — that would also punish North Korea.
Earlier Wednesday, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, suggested he had reservations about taking up the House version of a bill that would punish Russia, Iran and North Korea. Last month, the Senate passed its own bill, but it was aimed only at Russia and Iran.
“We expressed concerns about it,” Corker said of the addition of North Korea to the House plan, citing a desire for greater Senate input.
But hours later, Corker said the Senate would move to approve the House version after all, but demanded that House leaders “expeditiously consider and pass enhancements to the North Korea language, which multiple members of the Senate hope to make in the very near future.”
The conflict over North Korea sanctions had been the latest detour in the legislation’s halting journey. As the Trump administration lobbied against a measure that would sharply limit the president’s ability to lift or suspend sanctions against Russia on his own, the bill languished in the House for weeks.
But after the House on Tuesday voted 419-3 to impose sanctions on Russia, Iran and North Korea, supporters seemed confident that the legislation would reach President Trump in short order. It would force the president into an uncomfortable choice, beneath the cloud of Russia-flecked scandal: whether to sign a bill his team has opposed or to honor Moscow’s wishes by seeking to scuttle the efforts of a Republican-led Congress.
The Senate had seemed an unlikely source of another bottleneck, given its vote last month, 98-2, to punish Russia and Iran. But after House leaders from both parties and Senate Democrats cheered an agreement last weekend to break the House impasse — in part by including House-led sanctions against North Korea — Senate Republicans were more reserved.