The Republican Party that Donald Trump built in his own image is crumbling. Just a few weeks ago, Congress passed and Trump signed into law a new bill that was the final thing that Lindsey Graham was working on before he died.
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According to the legislative summary, this is what Trump is required to do under the Russia and Iran Sanctions Act:
impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions on specified persons (individuals and entities) such as the Russian president, certain Russian military commanders, and any foreign person that knowingly provides goods or services relating to Russia’s defense industrial base;
increase the rate of duty on all goods imported into the United States from Russia to a rate of up to 500% ad valorem (i.e., relative to the value);
increase the rate of duty up to 100% ad valorem on all goods imported into the United States from a country that was among the five largest importers of Russian-origin crude oil or natural gas if such country knowingly makes new purchases of such products after enactment of the bill;
impose property-blocking sanctions on financial institutions organized under Russian law and owned wholly or partly by Russia; and
impose property-blocking sanctions on foreign vessels that knowingly transport certain products of Russian origin, including crude oil, uranium, and coal.
Sen. Thom Tillis, whose term ends in January, said that Trump is breaking the law. He isn’t the only Senate Republican who feels that way.
The Republican Senator floated the idea of Republicans blocking military and other funding that Trump needs by the end of the year.