A growing number of senators from both parties plan to ratchet up their push to stiffen sanctions on Russia and demand Congress have the final say if President Donald Trump decides to weaken penalties on the country unilaterally, APA reported citing CNN.
The move by six senators is the latest warning from Capitol Hill to the new administration over US-Russian relations.
On Wednesday, a group led by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, and Ben Cardin, D-Maryland, plan to introduce legislation that would impose strict new congressional oversight and veto power over the Trump administration if it decided to lift sanctions on Russia.
The Russia Review Act would require the White House to submit a report detailing why it was seeking to lift sanctions, setting into motion a 120-day review period where Congress could vote to disapprove of easing the penalties on the country, according to a summary of the measure provided to CNN.
Sen. Marco Rubio, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is cosponsoring the Graham-Cardin measure, along with Democratic Sens. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Republican John McCain of Arizona.
It is uncertain when votes over the bills could take place and if Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker will schedule a vote in his committee. But the Tennessee Republican has been a sharp Putin critic and has urged the White House to keep the existing sanctions in place.
"Sen. Corker strongly supports keeping sanctions in place against Russia for its continued destabilizing behavior in Ukraine," said Corker spokeswoman Micah Johnson.
Asked if either the sanctions bill or the new review act would get a veto-proof majority of 67 senators, Cardin said: "I think if this matter comes up for a vote, it would be pretty close to those numbers."
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