Rubio urges House to pass Russia sanctions bill now — says Dems’ Trump paranoia helping Putin

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged the House to pass the Lindsey Graham sanctions bill, arguing it would give President Trump more “tools” against Russia and Iran.

“It gives the president the authority to do these things. It gives him more tools in the toolbox. Now he can do a lot of it without the bill, but obviously the Democrats in the House are not apparently in a mood to provide the president any additional legal powers,” Rubio told Brian Kilmeade on his radio show.  

“It would be valuable for the president to have these tools available to him, and then he can decide if and when to use them appropriately.”

The legislation has already been approved by the Senate. It aims to economically weaken Russia and Iran — hitting the Kremlin with sanctions on those supporting its war in Ukraine and targeting Tehran with measures to curb funding for Iranian energy and weapons programs.

Democrats expressed concern the bill may give Trump too much power.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio shrugged off Russia’s pledge to help Iran Anadolu via Getty Images

“It risks providing tariff and sanction authority to Donald Trump and his administration that we believe they will abuse. I have serious concerns with the legislation. I haven’t been able to evaluate it line by line yet,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said.

The legislation is not up for a vote this week, but Republican leadership said it remains a priority.

House GOP Leader Steve Scalise told Fox News that “we’re working through the Russia sanctions bill right now.”

Meanwhile, Rubio shrugged off a bombshell report that Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to help Iran despite US sanctions against the country.

“In the case of Iran, we’re not aligned with the Russians and the Russian system in terms of their view of the situation,” Rubio said to Kilmeade. 

He also pointed out Russia has a lot on its plate with the war with Ukraine.

“Obviously Russia has their own hands full with Ukraine and that effort there. But I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: nothing that anyone is providing Iran is in any way impeding our ability to act as necessary to protect the United States,” Rubio noted.

“That said, it is clear that in the case of what Iran is doing, we are not necessarily fully aligned with the Russian position on it,” he added. “Putin’s got his own set of problems that I think take up the majority of his time and focus, which is, you know, the war with Ukraine and, frankly, the impacts that these Ukrainian strikes are having on the Russian economy in combination with sanctions.”

Putin pledged Russian support to Iran and praised his Iranian counterpart, President Masoud Pezeshkian, at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan.

“During this difficult period, we are striving to provide you with the necessary assistance — as we have discussed — and are supplying you with essential goods,” Putin told Pezeshkian, according to the Kremlin.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian meets Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit ZUMAPRESS.com

Pezeshkian told Putin the sanctions the US imposed on Iran were similar to the ones imposed on Russia.

“They do not have the right to impose sanctions whenever they please, violate international law, and then commit acts of aggression,” he said.

The United States has employed an economic strategy to try and end the war with Iran, using sanctions to squeeze its economy and its ability to sell oil, which is funding its attacks on military bases in the Gulf. 

“The fastest way for the conflict to end is for no one to provide any support to this regime. We are going to sever every tie that [Iran] has to the outside world,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on Wednesday morning. “This is all hands on deck.”