House chairman calls on Senate to redo Russia sanctions bill before recess

Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is calling on the Senate to fix legislation imposing new sanctions on Russia before leaving for the July Fourth holiday recess this week.

The Senate is expected to pass the bill for a second time after it ran into an unexpected roadblock in the House, but it’s unclear when that might happen.

Senators had originally expected to be consumed this week by a floor vote on the GOP’s legislation to partially repeal and replace the healthcare law. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced Tuesday that a vote would be delayed until after the weeklong recess, citing the lack of support for the healthcare bill to pass.

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Royce suggested that the Senate take the opportunity to re-send the Russia sanctions bill now that the healthcare legislation isn’t consuming floor time.

“Well, now that the Senate has some time on its hands, it should fix the constitutional problem in the bill,” Royce said in an interview Wednesday on Fox News’s “America’s Newsroom.”

The legislation, which also enhances sanctions against Iran, passed in the Senate this month by a resounding 98-2. But House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) flagged that the Senate bill violated the constitutional requirement that all legislation raising revenue must originate in the House.

The House Ways and Means Committee sent proposed legislative language to accommodate the requirement to the Senate.

In addition to new sanctions on Russia, the bill would also give Congress 30 days to review and potentially block President Trump from lifting sanctions.

The Obama administration ordered new sanctions in late December in retaliation for Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections. The Washington Post reported late last month that the Trump administration is moving to restore Russia access to two diplomatic compounds in Maryland in New York that officials were forced to leave as part of the Obama administration sanctions.

Royce predicted the House would also pass the bill overwhelmingly once the Senate fixes the procedural issue.

“The vote also will be very strong in the House. But we need to have that fix done and the bill sent over, hopefully before the Fourth of July recess,” Royce said.

But time is running short for the Senate to redo the vote before leaving for recess. House members are scheduled to depart Washington on Thursday afternoon, and it’s likely senators will leave by then as well.

Democrats have accused the GOP of slow-walking the legislation as a way to weaken the Russia sanctions under pressure from the White House.

Some lawmakers have also reportedly expressed concerns about the scope of energy sanctions imposed by the bill.

But Royce denied that the bill would be “watered down.”

“The bill has not been watered down. It’s simply a constitutional issue with respect to all revenue bills have to originate in the House. That’s an easy thing for the Senate to fix,” Royce said. “Our goal is to pass this measure as soon as possible.”