Patrick Mcmahon
A bipartisan package of sanctions on Russia, Iran and North Korea has cleared the House of Representatives and the Senate, passing with overwhelming — and veto-proof — majorities in both chambers.
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Right now, the next vote — President Donald Trump’s — is uncertain, even as it heads to his desk.
With 98 of 100 Senators and 419 of 422 House representatives, Trump’s vote almost doesn’t matter — they’ll override a veto if he votes against it. His vote does matter, however, in light of the multiple ongoing investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential campaign.
His vote also matters to Administration officials like Rex Tillerson, who has pleaded for “flexibility” in new sanctions on Russia, and threatened that new sanctions on the nation could close off “communications with Moscow.” Before joining the Administration, Tillerson served as CEO of ExxonMobil. He oversaw the company at a time when the company did business in Russia in violation of American sanctions on the nation, for which ExxonMobil was fined $2 million by the Treasury Department.
The sanctions against Russia were first enacted by Barack Obama last year in the wake of revelations by the American intelligence community. In unison, the National Security Agency (NSA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) concluded in a single report that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit President Donald Trump.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has given mixed answers on whether Trump will sign the bill. Talking to reporters on Air Force One recently, Sanders told the press that Trump was “looking over where it stands” and that while he “has no intention of getting rid of them, he wants to make sure we get the best deal for the American people possible.”
While Trump has stated that Iran is in compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, better known as the Iran Deal), the Treasury Department says new sanctions target networks that support “military procurement” for the nation’s ballistic missile program.
