The Daily Fuckup

Reps. Richard Neal and Ron Wyden are pushing back on part of a Russia sanctions bill that would give President Donald Trump broader tariff authority. In a joint statement released July 14, 2026, Neal, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, and Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said they oppose giving Trump new unilateral tariff power in the Sanctioning Russia Act.

Their objection is aimed at the bill’s tariff mechanism, not at sanctions on Russia itself. The lawmakers said the proposal could give the president too much discretion and risk driving up costs for American families. The issue comes as Congress considers ways to pressure countries that keep buying Russian oil and gas while limiting the economic fallout at home.

The criticism also lands in the middle of a year in which Trump has already used tariff authority aggressively. In April, the White House issued a presidential action on imports of pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical ingredients. In June, it followed with another action adjusting tariff regimes for imports of aluminum, steel, and copper. Those actions do not settle the Russia debate, but they underscore why Neal and Wyden are warning against expanding presidential trade powers without tighter limits.

The dispute now is whether Congress wants to build a sanctions bill that keeps tariff power tightly bounded or one that gives the president more room to set trade penalties on his own. Neal and Wyden are arguing for the first option. Their view is that sanctions on Russia should not become a vehicle for open-ended tariff authority that could be used far beyond the immediate conflict.