WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Katie Britt is helping champion her late colleague Sen. Lindsey Graham’s key priority of advancing legislation to cripple the Russian economy as the war in Ukraine rages.
Just before his death, Graham announced on Friday a major breakthrough with the White House on sweeping sanctions and tariff legislation.
Now, in a tribute to the South Carolina Republican, a large swath of bipartisan senators on Tuesday unveiled a revised bill that would impose steep tariffs on the biggest purchasers of Russian oil.
“Lindsey is looking down on this moment with a big smile,” Britt, R-Ala., said. “He said that this would be the most consequential piece of legislation that he ever had an opportunity to get behind and get to the president’s desk.”
Alabama’s junior senator said she talked with Graham just after the late senator discussed the bill with President Donald Trump and said he was “overjoyed” to be getting close to the long-fought bill becoming a reality.
If enacted, the revised legislation would impose tariffs of up to 100% on the top five countries that buy Russian oil — China, India, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan — lawmakers said.
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, who has been a key partner to Graham on Russia sanctions, said the bill is narrowly tailored to gain support and ensure European allies are not targeted. He credited the late senator for getting the bill to the cusp of passage.
“Sanctions will be a decisive factor in this war, throttling Putin’s economy, stopping the flow of oil and gas revenue, and targeting the countries that are complicit, the bad actors, including the enablers and the evaders,” Blumenthal said during a press conference on the bill.
Speaking in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump said he was behind the sanctions bill “in honor of Lindsey” but said he was open to expanding its scope.
“There’s a good chance that it gets done,” Trump told reporters. “But they’d like to add Iran and they’d like to add Hezbollah to it.”
Britt told Alabama Daily News that she spoke with the president on Sunday about the bill and is encouraged that his support will help finally get the bill on a path to becoming law.
“This will give him additional tools to create peace in the region in a way that hopefully creates meaningful change,” she said. “So it’ll hold (Russian President Vladimir) Putin accountable and others who have enabled his war machine. So I am excited about it, and I’m looking forward to getting it done.”
The bill would impose sanctions on Putin, Russian oligarchs, the country’s energy and financial industries and its defense industrial base.
Blumenthal said the revised measure will provide Ukraine with “critical leverage” toward reaching peace and ending the bloodshed, just as Graham had been fighting to achieve throughout the war.
It remains unclear when the sanctions bill could get a vote on the Senate floor as lawmakers face a growing legislative to-do list ahead of their extended August recess.
“(Senate Majority Leader Thune) has said to us that he’s ready to go forward when we have the votes, and I think we have the votes,” Blumenthal told reporters.
On Monday, Thune told CNN he was “hopeful we can get that done” as lawmakers give the bill renewed attention in the wake of Graham’s death.
“It’s one of those things he’s very passionate about, he wants to see a free and independent Ukraine, as all of us do,” the South Dakota Republican said.
Britt welcomes Graham’s sister to Senate
Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, was also sworn in Tuesday to fill the late senator’s seat for the rest of his term.
Britt helped shepherd the new senator around the Capitol, as the two now share a common thread of being the first women to represent their respective states in the Senate.
“Lindsey never stopped working, was always thinking about how he could move things forward, or make a difference, or get something done,” Britt told ADN.
“So we talked about all the things he wanted to see done, and this was obviously at the top of the list, so I know she is so proud,” she said of her conversation with Nordone.
It was an honor to welcome Darline to the Senate today alongside @SenatorTimScott. I know she will serve the people of South Carolina and our nation with the same commitment to public service that Lindsey did, and I look forward to working with her. pic.twitter.com/yFJ5poKD9q
— Senator Katie Boyd Britt (@SenKatieBritt) July 14, 2026