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Senate rejects resolution to block President Trump from lifting sanctions on Russia
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

Senate rejects resolution to block President Trump from lifting sanctions on Russia

11 Republicans voted with Democrats

The Senate failed to advance a bill to prevent President Donald Trump from lifting sanctions on three Russian businesses. Eleven Republicans joined 46 Democrats to vote for cloture on the bill, but they fell three votes short of the 60 votes needed to end debate.

Congress has the power to reject any lessening of sanctions on Russia, but only if it has enough votes.

What sanctions?

In April, the Trump administration placed U.S. sanctions on three businesses connected to an oligarch associated with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

This oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, had also been cited by prosecutors as a financial supporter of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's alleged criminal activity in Ukraine. Deripaska accused Manafort and Rick Gates (Trump campaign's former deputy chairman) of disappearing with $26 million of his money.

In December, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that it was lifting sanctions on these three businesses. Sanctions on Deripaska will remain.

"Treasury sanctioned these companies because of their ownership and control by sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, not for the conduct of the companies themselves. These companies have committed to significantly diminish Deripaska's ownership and sever his control. The companies will be subject to ongoing compliance and will face severe consequences if they fail to comply," Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said in the department's news release.

The U.S. Treasury Department has argued that leaving these sanctions in place could hurt the global aluminum market or cause the Russian government to take over the company.

What happened Wednesday?

Democrats in the Senate were hoping to be able to get enough votes to prevent these sanctions from being lifted.

In 2017, Trump signed a bill granting Congress the power to halt the weakening of any sanctions on Russia by his administration within 30 days of announcement. The 2017 bill had a veto-proof majority before it ever reached Trump's desk.

The 30-day window for the current attempt to lift Russian sanctions closes Friday, the Washington Post reported. The House will likely vote on a similar resolution Thursday, but it will be purely symbolic following the Senate's action Wednesday.

The motion to end debate on the resolution earned 57 votes but needed 60 to move forward. Eleven Republicans — Sens. John Boozman (Ark.), Susan Collins (Maine), Tom Cotton (Ark.), Steve Daines (Mont.), Cory Gardner (Colo.), Josh Hawley (Mo.), John Kennedy (La.), Martha McSally (Ariz.), Jerry Moran (Kan.), Marco Rubio (Fla.), and Ben Sasse (Neb.) — broke with their party and voted to advance the measure.

On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had dismissed the resolution as a "Democratic stunt" and urged members of his party to vote against it.

The House of Representatives will vote on a similar measure Thursday.

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