Senators are joining forces to prevent the White House from lifting sanctions against Russia
REUTERS/Brian C. FrankSen. Lindsey Graham speaks at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition Forum in Des Moines, Iowa, September 19, 2015.
The US Senate is poised to introduce new legislation that would reign in the Trump administration should it seek to lift sanctions on Russia, according to a CNN report Tuesday night.
Called the Russia Review Act, the proposed legislation would allow a congressional 120-day review of a White House request to lift sanctions against Russia, giving Congress final approval authority.
The bipartisan move will be led by Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland. Sens. John McCain, Marco Rubio, Claire McCaskill, and Sherrod Brown have also expressed support.
Having long voiced his opposition to lift sanctions against Russia, Rubio explained to CNN that they have received broad support, even enough to defeat a veto, to resist a rogue move from the White House on the matter.
"I think if there was a real threat of lifting sanctions minus the respect for Ukrainian sovereignty and meeting those conditions, my sense is that we would have the votes to pass that in the Senate and we would be able to pass it with a veto-proof majority," Rubio said.
Rubio has previously criticized Trump's praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin and grilled Secretary of State Rex Tillerson over his Russia ties during his confirmation hearing.
US lawmakers have had Russia in the crosshairs in recent months for its cyberattacks that aimed to destabilize the presidential election - and for its military action in eastern Ukraine.
The latest move in the Senate comes after an interview Trump gave to Fox News's Bill O'Reilly, in which Trump appeared to defend Putin.
In response to O'Reilly's description of Putin as a "killer," Trump responded with: "We've got a lot of killers. What do you think? Our country's so innocent?"
The new measure is scheduled to be introduced on Wednesday.