Dem
47
GOP
53
Sometimes you achieve more in death than in life. John F. Kennedy was not able to get the Civil Rights Act or Voting Rights Act passed in his life, despite trying hard to do so. But after he died and there was great sympathy for him, Lyndon Johnson used that sympathy to help get them through. Lindsey Graham tried very hard to get a bill that would put punishing sanctions on Russia though the Senate to no avail. But now that he is gone, the 61-page bill was renamed for him and it passed the Senate 86-11 on Friday. Every Republican except Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) voted for the bill. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT and nine (mostly) progressive Democrats—namely Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE), Maggie Hassan (NH), Mazie Hirono (HI), Ed Markey (MA), Jon Ossoff (GA), Alex Padilla (CA), Elizabeth Warren (MA), Peter Welch (VT) and Ron Wyden (OR)—voted against it, They voted against the bill because it authorizes the president to impose tariffs to enforce the sanctions and they think Trump already has too much power to impose tariffs and doesn't need more. He can impose sanctions with the power he already has.
What the bill doesn't do is levy tariffs. It authorizes the president to impose tariffs up to 100% on the top five purchasers of Russian oil, forcing those countries to decide whether buying Russian oil or selling products in the U.S. is more important. But it doesn't force the president to do anything.
It also puts Trump on the spot. His buddy, Vladimir Putin, is not going to like the bill and will surely instruct Trump not to levy tariffs on countries that purchase Russian oil. What will Trump do? Note that one of the biggest customers of Russian oil is China, which will not take tariffs lying down. It could ban the export of rare earths and other items important for U.S. industry in retaliation for tariffs. Then what would Trump do? If he is afraid to stand up to Russia and China, then what's the point of the bill?
In any event, the bill first has to go to the House for a vote, though it is expected to pass. (V)