A bipartisan bill aiming to penalize Moscow’s war in Ukraine has exposed a fissure among potential 2028 Democratic presidential contenders, some of whom worry the measure would turbocharge President Donald Trump’s power to impose tariffs and harm the economy.
The bill, titled the “Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026,” could get a vote in the Senate as early as next week. It would authorize tariffs of up to 100% on the top five foreign purchasers of Russian crude oil and natural gas, which is a key source of revenue for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. The long-stalled bill gained fresh momentum after the sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, its champion and original Republican sponsor.
But critics argue the legislation is written too broadly and would hand Trump unprecedented, broad authority to impose geopolitical tariffs on U.S. trading partners. They point out the legislation allows him to go even further than the second round of global tariffs he imposed on many U.S. imports last week, which could exacerbate inflation and raise prices for consumers.
“Trump has shown himself to abuse tariff authority in a really reckless way that’s causing harm to our economy,” New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said. “I know that we’ve been working to narrow that, so that’s what I’m going to be looking at.”
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The debate over the bill has extended to other Senate Democrats eyeing a run for the White House who are supportive of Ukraine and its fight for survival but also wary of voting to give Trump a blank check that could come back to bite them in a Democratic presidential primary.
“I’ve been fairly consistent that what is happening in Ukraine — and making sure Ukraine wins this war — is in direct national interest of the United States,” said Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego. “There’s been a bipartisan effort for almost a year and a half now to pass this bill, and I think that we should pass it and not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”
Another Arizona Democrat and potential 2028 candidate, Sen. Mark Kelly, is one of the bill’s 62 co-sponsors, and he said he’d have preferred imposing even higher tariffs on purchasers of Russian oil and gas. The original legislation would have authorized the president to impose tariffs of up to 500%, but that was reduced to attract more support in the Senate.
“They narrowed it, which was good,” added Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), another co-sponsor.
Other Democratic senators who have been mentioned as potential 2028 Democratic contenders are taking a wait-and-see approach on the bill.
Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin said she is “still looking at,” the bill, referring to “interesting” questions about its tariff provisions.
Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff said he had questions about how to go about implementing the bill, while his fellow Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, another potential 2028 Democratic candidate, said that giving Trump additional tariff authorities would be “deeply concerning.”
“I would like to see if we can get to a better version of the bill,” Warnock said. “I certainly support the notion of checking Putin, and I’m deeply concerned about the implications of his ambitions, not only with respect to Ukraine, but where he might go next.”
Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations who has also made moves fueling speculation about a 2028 bid, said he hasn’t yet made up his mind on the bill.
Supporters of the bill are working to address concerns about its tariff provisions. As it stands, it would give the president authority to impose sanctions on three groups of countries: top five importers of Russian oil, top five natural gas importers and top five Russia sanctions evaders. It does not specify which countries would apply specifically, which critics argue opens the door to tariffs on U.S. allies, some of whom also purchase Russian oil.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune is hoping to secure an agreement from Democrats to fast-track the bill, which requires the consent of all 100 senators. Without that, it would take the Senate days to consider the bill — time that Thune cannot spare given a laundry list of legislation and confirmations he wants to plow through before the Senate leaves town early next month for its annual August recess.
Democrats could use their leverage to demand votes on amendments in exchange for agreeing to fast-track the bill. But there’s no guarantee that Thune would agree, or that those amendments would succeed.
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, a supporter of sanctioning Russia who has raised objections about the bill’s tariff provisions, declined to answer when asked if he would object to speeding it along on the Senate floor.
“I’m going to continue to make the case to my colleagues that, after all of this work on something that is absolutely right and correct and the smart thing to do, doing something that is going to undermine the affordability agenda doesn’t make any sense to me,” Wyden said.
Booker is hoping to see more changes before he supports the bill.
“Especially with Ukraine’s increasing reach [in Russia], it’s really time to do everything we can to support them,” he said. “But the details are really important to me.”
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