Republicans join Democrats in rebuking Trump’s Russia sanctions waiver

Republican and Democratic lawmakers sharply criticized President Donald Trump on Saturday, October 17, 2026, after he used a statutory waiver to suspend a package of new Russia sanctions and tariffs. The bipartisan response is a material new development following the White House order reported earlier Saturday: members who helped pass the law are now publicly challenging the president’s decision, although Congress is not positioned to reverse it quickly.

The Associated Press reported that Republican senators including Rick Scott of Florida, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas objected to the waiver. Democratic leaders also condemned it. The criticism centers on the argument that suspending the penalties reduces economic pressure on President Vladimir Putin while Russia continues its war against Ukraine.

Republicans break with Trump

Scott told the AP that Russia is the aggressor and that the United States should apply economic pressure, adding that waiving the measures would not have been his first choice. Tillis called the action “beyond irresponsible” and pointed to the Senate’s 86-11 vote for the legislation. Cornyn wrote that the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, whose name the law carries, “would be appalled.”

NBC News reported additional Republican objections. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas called the decision a mistake, while Rep. Mike Lawler of New York said he understood the goal of lowering oil and diesel prices but opposed doing so in a way that could provide revenue to Russia. Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska also said he disagreed with the waiver.

Darline Graham, the South Carolina Republican appointed to her late brother’s Senate seat, took a more measured position. She said she shared Trump’s goals of ending the war and lowering fuel prices, but would personally keep pressure on Russia because she did not trust Putin. She said she planned to discuss the issue with Trump.

Democrats press for congressional action

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer accused Trump of giving Russia economic support. Sen. Elizabeth Warren urged Congress to act, according to the AP. Rep. Gregory Meeks, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has introduced legislation aimed at blocking Trump’s separate diesel agreement with Putin and said lawmakers were not powerless.

Any immediate congressional countermeasure faces a practical obstacle: the House and Senate are in recess until after the November 3 midterm elections. The executive order also relies on waiver authority that Congress wrote into the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act. Overriding the policy would therefore require new legislative action or political pressure strong enough to change the administration’s approach.

Administration cites economic review

Trump told reporters Saturday evening that the waiver was a good decision for the country and the world, NBC News reported. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration wanted about 60 days to study the sanctions’ effects on the U.S. and global economies amid pressure on energy supplies. The White House separately said applying the new penalties now could impede efforts to negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.

The order, signed Friday, waived new duties and sanctions that otherwise would have taken effect Sunday, October 18. It left earlier Russia sanctions in place. The suspended measures included duties on Russian goods, penalties targeting major buyers of Russian energy and restrictions intended to reach financial institutions and other entities supporting Moscow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the suspension benefited Russia and would encourage Putin rather than stop the war. His criticism, combined with objections from lawmakers in both U.S. parties, turns the waiver from an administrative implementation decision into a broader dispute over Trump’s Russia policy, energy prices and congressional authority weeks before the midterm elections.

What changes now

The sanctions remain suspended unless Trump or designated administration officials decide further action is appropriate. The immediate development is not a change in the legal status of the waiver, but the breadth of resistance from members of Trump’s own party. Whether that resistance leads to legislation, oversight or a policy reversal will depend on what lawmakers do after returning to Washington and whether the administration’s promised economic review alters its position.

Sources and image credit

Primary record: White House executive order. Independent reporting and attributed responses: The Associated Press via PBS NewsHour, NBC News, and ABC News.

Image: Sunrise at the U.S. Capitol on January 3, 2023, created by the U.S. House of Representatives and provided by the Office of Rep. Robert Garcia; Wikimedia Commons source record and official House source. The federal-government image is marked public domain. It was resized to 1600×900 with no text added.