Lawmaker Aims to Force Vote on Russia Sanctions Bill
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., said Nov. 21 that he plans to file a discharge petition to force a House vote on a bill to impose additional sanctions on Russia and new tariffs on countries that buy its oil and gas.
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“Today, we have officially notified both the Clerk of the House and House leadership of our discharge petition to force a vote on crushing Russian sanctions immediately upon our return" from the Thanksgiving break, Fitzpatrick wrote on X. He will need to collect signatures from a majority of House members for the bill to reach the House floor.
Fitzpatrick’s announcement came a day after Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said the House would likely need to act first on the bicameral legislation because the bill is a “revenue measure” (see 2511190053). The Constitution calls for revenue-raising bills to originate in the lower chamber. The office of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had no immediate comment on Fitzpatrick's statement.
While President Donald Trump recently greenlighted the Russia bill (see 2511170041), which Fitzpatrick and Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., introduced in April (see 2504020003), congressional leaders have not scheduled a vote on the legislation.
Graham welcomed Fitzpatrick's discharge petition plans. "I am glad to see there seems to be progress in moving the Russia sanctions bill in the House, which has overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress," said Graham, who sees the legislation as a way to pressure Moscow to agree to "an honorable and just peace in Ukraine."