Senate speeds toward recess, advances Blanche and Russia sanctions

The Senate passed a sweeping Russia sanctions bill Friday and moved Todd Blanche closer to a final vote as leaders scrambled to clear the chamber’s backlog before lawmakers leave Washington for August recess. Two items moved first: a personnel decision and a foreign-policy penalty.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday there was still “a lot of stuff that’s piled up” and that the chamber would see how much cooperation it could get from Democrats on moving faster. Thune’s top items also included confirming 74 Trump nominees and approving a stopgap funding bill to keep the government financed beyond the current deadline. Thune and Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer were also working on a deal to fund the federal government and start the Senate’s August recess.

The Russia sanctions measure had been championed for years by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham and was designed to stifle Russia’s economy by allowing tough new tariffs against major importers of Russian energy. The Senate cleared the bill with few opponents.

Blanche’s path was far more complicated. His nomination had been delayed since late July, when GOP Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina sought assurances tied to a Trump IRS settlement and a broader anti-weaponization fund dispute. The Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a scheduled Thursday vote while it waited for documentation on Trump’s IRS settlement. Cornyn said he needed specific written assurances about a release signed by the acting attorney general last May before he would support Blanche.

On Aug. 3, Blanche issued a formal order ending Trump’s $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund, and Cornyn and Tillis formally backed him after the deal. By Aug. 4 he had cleared a key nomination hurdle.