Senate Democratic Staff Report Calls for Reviving Sanctions Effort Against Russia

The document said that while the Biden administration placed sanctions and export controls on thousands of targets following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Trump administration has rolled out no such measures during its first six months in office, despite growing evasion efforts by Russia and the countries that help it, including China.

The Trump administration also has undermined sanctions and export controls by, among other things, opposing a Group of Seven proposal to lower the international price cap on Russian oil (see 2506180042), making personnel cuts at key agencies, and disbanding two DOJ units charged with prosecuting sanctions and export control violations (see 2502060019), the Senate staffers wrote. One of those units, Task Force KleptoCapture, had obtained forfeitures totaling nearly $700 million in assets from Russian "enablers" and charged more than 70 people with violating sanctions and export controls against Russia, the report said.

In addition, the report asserted that the current administration's approach to sanctions and export controls has allowed Russia to continue getting materiel and revenue for its war machine and has taken pressure off Moscow to negotiate a peace deal.

The U.S. hasn't only halted sanctions against Russian entities, the report said, it also has stopped targeting "numerous non-Russian targets" helping Moscow sustain its war, including Chinese companies shipping military-related items. Although the administration has stated that roughly 80% of Russian dual-use imports come from China, sanctions against the country for supporting Russia have "come to a standstill," the report said.

President Donald Trump "inherited unprecedented sanctions and export controls on Russia, which the United States imposed and maintained together with our closest allies," Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said. "Instead of using that leverage, President Trump has willfully allowed it to wither -- halting enforcement, letting evaders off the hook, and signaling to the world that the U.S. won’t pressure Moscow with the proven tools at its disposal."

At the State Department, all but two employees in the Office of Sanctions Coordination have been pushed out, and there's no sanctions coordinator to lead diplomacy with allies and evasion hubs, the report said. At the Commerce Department, the number of employees administering and enforcing export controls on Russia has become “concerningly low” following personnel departures. The Treasury Department and the National Security Council also have lost Russia-focused staff.

The report said Russia- and Europe-focused teams have been "particularly vulnerable" to employee departures or cuts. The Senate committees' staff said it has received reports that government employees are being reassigned to work on other areas "because the Trump Administration has deprioritized Russia sanctions and cross-G7 coordination to make sanctions effective." It also said the administration has repeatedly signaled to government officials that "financial crimes are not crimes worth prosecuting."

"This threatens to undermine our ability to maintain or expand sanctions and export controls," the report said. "The Trump Administration’s impulsive personnel decisions have pushed experts out of government service, and it has mismanaged its own hiring freeze that was meant to exempt national security personnel."

The report -- which builds on a letter that six Senate Democrats, led by Shaheen and Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio in May (see 2505070024) -- insisted that it's “not too late” for the Trump administration to change course. It urged the administration to restart regular sanctions designations, strengthen energy sanctions, revive coordination with allies and disrupt China-Russia financial ties that enable evasion. “If Trump is serious about ending the war in Ukraine, he should start using the tools he already has,” Warren said.

In an emailed statement, White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly dismissed the report, saying Democrats "enabled and applauded" President Joe Biden's "weak, failed strategy" on Russia and Ukraine.

"Unlike Biden, this president is taking real action to stop the killing -- prompting the two countries to hold talks for the first time in years," Kelly said. “He is selling American-made weapons to NATO members and threatening [Russian President Vladimir] Putin with biting sanctions if he does not agree to a ceasefire because he wants to bring peace to this conflict that has gone on for far too long.”

Trump said in late May that new Russia sanctions could hurt peace talks (see 2505290049). But in late July, with no peace deal in sight, Trump said he might soon use sanctions and tariffs to pressure Russia to end the war (see 2507280045). He told reporters Aug. 5 that he could make a decision following a U.S. meeting with Russia this week.