Senate passes Russia sanctions bill 86-11; Murkowski and Sullivan vote yes

The U.S. Senate voted 86-11 on Friday to pass a sweeping bill, H.R. 5334, imposing sanctions and other measures against Russia. Alaska's two senators backed the bill after first helping defeat an attempt to weaken one of its key provisions.

The measure aims at the money that funds Russia's war in Ukraine — its energy income. It would let President Trump impose tariffs of up to 100% on the biggest buyers of Russian oil and gas, a group led by China and India, and up to 500% on goods imported from Russia itself. It also targets Vladimir Putin, Russian officials, oligarchs, banks and the "shadow fleet" of aging tankers Russia uses to move oil around existing sanctions, and, at the White House's request, extends sanctions on Iran's energy and weapons industries.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Sen. Dan Sullivan both voted against an amendment offered by Sen. Rand Paul earlier in the day. The amendment would have struck the provision hitting countries that purchase Russian crude oil or natural gas, or that help Russia evade sanctions — the core of the bill's leverage. Paul argues those tariffs amount to a tax on American consumers. The Senate rejected the amendment 32-64. Both senators then voted for final passage.

The bill was championed for years by Sen. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican, who died before it passed. The Senate renamed the legislation the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act in his honor, and his sister, Darline Graham, newly seated in his place, worked in her first weeks in office to carry it across the line.

Both Alaska senators are also cosponsors of the Sanctioning Russia Act, which carries a 500% tariff on Russian goods and property-blocking sanctions on certain financial institutions, and whose core is now folded into the bill that passed. Murkowski has said the country should "keep existing sanctions in place, pass the long-overdue Sanctioning Russia Act." The pair have also pushed a ban on Russian seafood imports — a direct concern for Alaska's fishing industry, which competes with cheaper Russian pollock, crab and salmon — an issue Alaska News has covered as Russian product moved into U.S. markets.

The measure now heads to the House, where its path is less certain — some members oppose deeper U.S. involvement in the war, and others object to the tariffs.