The US House of Representatives has cleared a major sanctions package targeting Russia, opening the door for President Donald Trump to slap steep tariffs on countries that continue buying Russian oil and gas — with India named among the nations most exposed.
The chamber approved the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 by a 262-159 vote on Wednesday evening, weeks after the Senate had already passed the legislation with strong bipartisan backing. The bill now heads to the President’s desk for his signature. The measure carries the name of the late Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who championed the legislation for more than a year before his death in July. Voting patterns underscored the bill’s cross-party appeal, even as it exposed divisions within the Democratic caucus. Support came from 203 Republicans, 58 Democrats and one Independent, while seven Republicans and 152 Democrats voted against it. Much of the Democratic opposition centred not on the sanctions themselves but on the sweeping tariff powers the bill hands to Trump.
At the heart of the legislation is a provision authorising tariffs of up to 100 per cent on the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas — a list that includes India, China, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan. The bill also targets the so-called “shadow fleet” of tankers that Moscow uses to move sanctioned oil, and adds fresh sanctions on Iran. Importantly, the tariffs are discretionary rather than mandatory, leaving it to Trump to decide whether and when to impose them. Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal and Jeanne Shaheen were among those who framed the bill as a warning shot aimed squarely at Beijing and New Delhi over their continued reliance on discounted Russian crude, arguing that such purchases have helped Moscow blunt the impact of existing sanctions.
The bill’s path to passage was far from smooth. Just a week earlier, its prospects looked uncertain amid partisan wrangling over the tariff authority, before the House Rules Committee cleared a key procedural hurdle on Monday, paving the way for Wednesday’s final vote. New Delhi has so far struck a measured tone in response, reiterating that its energy-purchase decisions are driven by national interest rather than external pressure — a position India has maintained through earlier rounds of US tariff threats over its Russian oil imports this year.
