The Trump administration faced blowback on Capitol Hill Tuesday for declining to implement new sanctions against Russia for interfering in the 2016 presidential election.
The State Department on Monday said it would not immediately levy penalties on entities doing business with Russia’s defense sector, saying that the law passed by Congress last summer has already prevented a windfall of cash from going to Russia.
“I’d like to know why they’re not doing more,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said of the sanctions. “There may be a good reason, but I don’t want to send anything that could be a signal of weakness.”
Lawmakers last year passed legislation to punish Moscow with a veto-proof majority in both chambers of Congress, forcing President Trump to sign it.
The law tied Trump’s hands on Russia, limiting his abilities to ease sanctions on the country — and he made clear his unhappiness with it. He called the law “seriously flawed” and said it infringed on his powers under the Constitution.
The State Department faced a Monday deadline under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) to begin imposing sanctions on foreign firms and governments doing large amounts of business with Russia’s defense and intelligence sector. But the law allows for the department to decide against imposing sanctions if companies are winding down their business dealings with Moscow.
http://thehill.com/policy/defense/371512-trump-officials-take-heat-for-declining-russia-sanctions
If he doesn't follow the law, he's got a collision with Congress in the making. If he does follow the law, he's going to make his patron in Moscow really upset.
Looks like he's decided that it's better not to mess with Putin. For whatever reason that might be.
The State Department on Monday said it would not immediately levy penalties on entities doing business with Russia’s defense sector, saying that the law passed by Congress last summer has already prevented a windfall of cash from going to Russia.
“I’d like to know why they’re not doing more,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said of the sanctions. “There may be a good reason, but I don’t want to send anything that could be a signal of weakness.”
Lawmakers last year passed legislation to punish Moscow with a veto-proof majority in both chambers of Congress, forcing President Trump to sign it.
The law tied Trump’s hands on Russia, limiting his abilities to ease sanctions on the country — and he made clear his unhappiness with it. He called the law “seriously flawed” and said it infringed on his powers under the Constitution.
The State Department faced a Monday deadline under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) to begin imposing sanctions on foreign firms and governments doing large amounts of business with Russia’s defense and intelligence sector. But the law allows for the department to decide against imposing sanctions if companies are winding down their business dealings with Moscow.
http://thehill.com/policy/defense/371512-trump-officials-take-heat-for-declining-russia-sanctions
If he doesn't follow the law, he's got a collision with Congress in the making. If he does follow the law, he's going to make his patron in Moscow really upset.
Looks like he's decided that it's better not to mess with Putin. For whatever reason that might be.
