According to a new report, the Trump admin is trying to water down the Russian sanctions bill that Congress passed through the House.
A senior administration official said that the White House is concerned that the bill will hurt U.S.-Russia relations and the administration is hoping to work with Republicans in the House to soften the bill, Politico reported.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) told Politico that he has heard the Trump administration is asking House members to “slow and block” the legislation.
“This is not something the administration is calling for us to do,” Brown said of the stronger sanctions. “I applaud the courage of a number of my Republican colleagues who said no to the administration and did the right thing for the country to keep a foreign power out of our elections.”
Democratic Rep. Krysten Sinema (D-Ariz.) responded to the report in a tweet Saturday, urging the U.S. to hold Russia accountable with “strong sanctions.”
I mean to be fair to the administration, it’s not unreasonable to seek better relations with Russian – both the Bush and Obama administrations tried to do the same. But it really does look suspicious given everything what investigations they’re going though. Why stick your neck out for Russia after all that?