A deadline to impose Russia sanctions which were overwhelmingly approved by Congress comes Monday and it might prove to be a test to see where President Donald Trump stands on Russia's meddling in the 2016 election and his relationship with Vladimir Putin, Politico reported Sunday.
"We've been doing informal conversations," Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., told Politico. "So you can rest assured that if we don’t have a satisfactory response by Monday, I will be out there asking . . . to get something done. And I'd expect to have Sen. [Bob] Corker's help."
A fledgling administration no longer will be giving leeway on Russia, Cardin added, and the concern about the White House "dragging its feet," according to Politico, is not a partisan one either.
"Am I confident" in President Trump meeting the deadline, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., was quoted in Politico. "I'm hopeful."
Amid continued scrutiny of the president's campaign's past dealings with Russia-linked actors and Trump's stated doubts of Russia's meddling in America's democratic process, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are hoping congressional authority does not unravel at the White House.
"So far, the president has not used tools the Senate gave him, 98-2, to send a clear and unmistakable sign to Vladimir Putin and Russia," Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Politico. "[The administration] should follow the law as it was passed by Congress."
Two key deadlines loom including the Treasury Department commencing sanctions against business "with Russia’s defense and intelligence sectors" and furnishing a "list of oligarchs maintaining close ties to Putin," according to Politico.
The moves might significantly damage the Trump administration's attempts to make better U.S. relations with Russia and President Putin, as the president has claimed.
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