Congress Sends Russia Sanctions Bill To Trump’s Desk

House and Senate break with Trump, vote overwhelmingly for Russia sanctions.

Congress overwhelmingly approved a new Russia sanctions bill Thursday after weeks of back and forth and veto threats from Donald Trump.

The Senate, Thursday evening, passed the sweeping sanctions package targeting Russia, Iran and North Korea with an overwhelming bipartisan majority, 97-2.

The U.S. House passed the sanctions package Tuesday in a 419-3 vote, sending the legislation to the Senate.

The White House has not definitively said yet whether Trump will sign the bill, but that is meaningless because the bill was passed on a veto-proof majority in both houses.

Among other things, the bill requires congressional approval before the president can ease or lift sanctions.

The Trump White House had criticized attempts to limit the president’s sanctions powers, but the legislation’s solid bipartisan support forces Trump’s hand.

According to the latest version of the legislation, Donald Trump would have to send a report for any plan to ease sanctions to Congress, and Congress would have 30 days to accept or reject the plan.