Washington, D.C. — FDD Action applauds the House’s passage of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 (H.R. 5334) by a bipartisan margin of 262-159. FDD Action has endorsed this legislation since it was first introduced as the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025 by the late Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
FDD Action congratulates Senators Darline Graham (R-SC) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Representatives Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Steny Hoyer (D-MD), along with every Member of Congress who supported this legislation. Congressional Republicans, Democrats, and the White House each negotiated in good faith. The result is legislation that reaffirms the United States’s commitment to stand with the people of Ukraine and to extend critical sanctions against Iran.
“Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Putin and his cronies have refused to negotiate in good faith or back away from their unrealistic, maximalist, and often baffling demands. That is why the United States must ramp up the pressure on Russia to end its genocidal campaign in Ukraine and stall its war machine. Few understood this reality better than Senator Lindsey Graham, who fought tirelessly to make the Sanctioning Russia Act law,” said Daniel Vaynshteyn, Associate Director of Government Affairs at FDD Action. “Congress has done its part. Now the administration must take the final step to drain Russia’s coffers and implement the legislation without delay.”
FDD Action now calls on the White House to sign the bill into law and begin using these new authorities to target and sanction Putin’s regime and war machine.
Four and a half years into the largest land war in Europe since World War II, Russia continues its brutal assault on Ukraine’s sovereignty, civilian infrastructure, and population, including the kidnapping of more than 20,500 Ukrainian children. Despite the courage and resilience of the Ukrainian people, the Kremlin has faced too few economic consequences to compel any meaningful change in its behavior. That absence of consequences has drawn out the war at the cost of innocent Ukrainian lives.
Members of Congress have introduced multiple bipartisan measures to increase economic pressure on Russia. This is the only one that has earned the support of congressional Republicans, Democrats, and the Trump administration alike, and therefore was able to pass this Congress. Given Ukraine’s recent battlefield gains, swift passage was urgently needed to raise the costs of continued aggression for Russia’s already weakened economy. Paired with continued military support for Ukraine, it is the only viable path to President Trump’s stated goal for peace.
The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 mandates sanctions against Russian government officials, financial institutions, and entities connected to Russia’s defense and energy sectors. It prohibits U.S. persons from investing in Russia, purchasing its sovereign debt, or exporting energy products to Russia. The bill further authorizes the President to impose tariffs on the top five importers of Russian crude oil or natural gas and on the top five facilitators of Russian sanctions evasion. The President may terminate these measures only if Russia reaches and upholds a peace agreement with Ukraine, subject to congressional review. The bill also extends the soon-to-expire Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 through 2031, preventing a lapse in an authority that has served as the statutory backbone of U.S. sanctions on Iran’s energy sector for three decades.
FDD Action is a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization that works directly with policymakers to advocate for a robust U.S. foreign policy—one that strengthens U.S. national security, does damage to America’s adversaries, and supports allies and partners. FDD Action serves as a trusted resource for congressional offices and executive branch policymakers navigating complex national security challenges, leveraging a team with decades of experience on Capitol Hill and in the policy arena.