The Graham act passed the Senate last month by 86-11 with strong bipartisan support, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met with lawmakers to urge its passage and took the unusual step of watching a procedural vote from a seat in the chamber.
Zelenskiy reiterated his support for the bill in an address this week, saying it is "important that it becomes law. I thank everyone around the world who supports this approach and who knows that strength works."
Russia and Ukraine have traded strikes in recent months on infrastructure and other economic targets, aimed at hampering each other's war effort and damaging morale. On Wednesday, Russian drones struck a passenger bus and a train in southern Ukraine, killing five people.
The bill faced opposition from House Democrats who said it gives Trump too many new tariff powers that he could use against U.S. allies. They say Trump already has the authority he needs to impose sanctions on Russia, but has chosen not to do so.
They also say the bill makes it too easy for Trump not to impose sanctions by declaring that doing so is not in the national interest, a much broader presidential power than in most sanctions bills.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the legislation had so many loopholes that sanctions harming Russia might not be applied. "What this legislation will do is give Donald Trump, perhaps, unfettered authority to unleash tariffs on the American people," the New York lawmaker said as he announced he would vote no.
Some Republicans had been concerned about political blowback against more tariffs and potentially higher consumer prices ahead of November's midterm elections, in which polls show the party struggling to keep control of the House.
But backers said the bill, a rare piece of legislation to pass with significant support from both parties, will send an essential message to Russia — and the world — that Washington continues to support Ukraine, helping to force Moscow to negotiate.
"Today, we are now one step closer to securing Lindsey's vision of enduring peace in Ukraine and beyond," Republican Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, a lead sponsor of the legislation, told the press conference after the House vote.
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