Republican senators Wednesday successfully defended the Trump administration’s plan to lift sanctions on companies controlled by a Vladimir Putin ally — despite the defection of nearly a dozen Republicans who broke ranks to vote with the Democrats.
The Democratic effort to block the relaxation of sanctions on the companies of Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska fell just a few votes shy of the 60 needed to advance the resolution to a final vote, even after attracting the support of eleven Republican senators including Marco Rubio of Florida, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ben Sasse of Nebraska.
The defeat means the Treasury Department is likely to lift the sanctions in the coming days. Treasury, Deripaska and his companies didn’t respond to requests for comment.
View the complete January 16 article by Jeanne Whalen on The Washington Post website here.