Senate Russia sanctions bill could reach House floor
The House reconvened Monday in Washington after five weeks in members’ home districts, according to the Associated Press. The first order of business is likely a vote on a stopgap spending bill designed to keep the federal government fully funded through early December, removing the possibility of a shutdown before the midterm elections.
With election season getting underway, votes are also expected on measures designed to amplify the GOP’s messaging strategy going into November. The most prominent is a resolution condemning socialism, part of a Republican effort to tie the Democratic Party to democratic-socialist candidates who have succeeded this year in running for office.
Another item that could make its way onto the agenda is a Senate-passed bill that imposes sanctions on key segments of the Russian economy and allows Trump to impose steep tariffs on goods imported from countries that buy the vast majority of Russian oil and gas. The effort, led by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, aims to deprive Russian President Vladimir Putin of revenue used to finance the war against Ukraine.
The short pre-midterm legislative window leaves little room for additional work. The stopgap bill, the socialism resolution, and the Russia sanctions package are among the expected votes for the closing stretch before the election.