Senators Balk on Russia Sanctions

Good Friday morning. We hope you also spent a couple of hours watching an extremely delightful livestream of airplanes attempting to land at London Heathrow airport during a storm. (Haley and editor Michael both watched it while finalizing this newsletter, so any errors or oversights are because of the airplanes. Vroom.)

Senators pushed through the pre-recess malaise Thursday to pass a short-term funding bill to avert a government shutdown. The stopgap measure, approved by the House last week, will keep the government funded through March 11. It gives top appropriators more time to come to a larger agreement on a spending package for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Sanctions Stalemate

Senators failed to reach an agreement this week on a package of sanctions to deter Russian leader Vladimir Putin from launching another invasion into Ukraine. The congressional stalemate gives more flexibility to President Joe Biden in responding to the crisis.

Instead of a comprehensive sanctions bill, the chamber passed a non-binding resolution by voice vote Thursday night condemning Russia’s buildup of troops on Ukraine’s border and calling for Biden to “impose significant costs” on Russia in the event of a new invasion.

This content is available exclusively to Dispatch members
Try a membership for full access to every newsletter and all of The Dispatch. Support quality, fact-based journalism.
Already a paid member? Sign In
Comments (0)
Join The Dispatch to participate in the comments.

There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.