White House Reportedly Seeks to Weaken Senate Bill on Russia Sanctions

The White House is seemingly working with US House Republicans to water down a Senate bill that aims to toughen sanctions on Russia, US media claimed Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The New York Times reported that Rep. Kevin Brady filed a procedural objection earlier this week that stopped the motion in its way through Congress and could cause it to be redrafted.

According to the outlet, the administration of the US president wanted to preclude the parliament from being able to block Donald Trump's attempts to lift or waive these sanctions.

But administration officials told the NYT they were concerned that the bill, which seeks to punish Russia for its alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election, was trying to take over Donald Trump’s power to impose such measures.

The Senate last week voted by a landslide in favor of new sanctions against Russia. No action has been taken on legislation since it was passed to the House of Representatives last Friday.

Russian officials have repeatedly denied charges of interfering in the US election, saying the allegations are absurd and represent an attempt to divert public attention from actual instances of election fraud and corruption as well as other pressing domestic issues.