The White House is asking Capitol Hill allies to make changes to a bill that would require lawmakers’ approval to lift sanctions on Russia and, if passed, force President Donald Trump to accept limited freedom to negotiate with Moscow or issue a politically embarrassing veto.
In meetings with Republican lawmakers, administration officials have argued that the Senate bill needs to be amended in order to give Trump more flexibility in his discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Axios reported Sunday. The White House is pushing for waivers to be written into the House version of the bill.
“We support the sanctions on Iran and Russia,” said White House legislative liaison Marc Short. “However, this bill is so poorly written that neither Republican nor Democratic administrations would be comfortable with the current draft because it greatly hampers the executive branch’s diplomatic efforts.”
The Senate bill, which passed by a 97-2 vote in June, allows Congress to prevent Trump from easing or suspending sanctions on Moscow, a major restriction on the president’s diplomatic prerogatives for Russia. Senators combined the provision on Russia sanctions with a separate Iran sanctions package, which would make vetoing the bill a much more difficult choice for Trump.
Further complicating matters for the White House is the perception in Washington that the Trump administration is already too eager to cooperate with a hostile adversary in Putin. If Trump vetoes the House version of the bill, administration opponents are likely to accuse him of using the power of his office to protect Moscow. (RELATED: Trump: No Change To Russia Sanctions Until Progress in Ukraine, Syria)
“He can’t veto Russia sanctions,” a White House official reportedly told Axios’ Jonathan Swan. “Are you fucking kidding me? Your first veto of the administration is to protect Russia?”
The White House remains optimistic that a softer bill with a provision for sanctions waivers will emerge from Congressional negotiations. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Texas Sen. John Cornyn are both sympathetic to the administration’s postion on the matter, reports Axios.
House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Ed Royce, on the other hand, want to pass the Senate version quickly and are less inclined to amend a bill with significant bipartisan support just to accommodate the White House.
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