A bill named for a senator who didn’t live to see it pass just cleared its biggest hurdle yet — and India is squarely in its sights.
On Tuesday, hours after a funeral service for Senator Lindsey Graham that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy personally attended, the U.S. Senate voted 86-12 to advance the newly renamed Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026. Only one Republican, Kentucky’s Rand Paul, voted against it.
Why India Is a Target
The bill’s central weapon is a tariff of up to 100% on the top five buyers of Russian oil — a list currently led by India and China, alongside Slovakia, Hungary, and Azerbaijan. Co-author Senator Richard Blumenthal didn’t mince words, calling India and China “the main culprits” fueling Russia’s war economy through their energy purchases.
The Fine Print
The bill isn’t just a blunt tariff threat. It codifies sanctions into law so future administrations can’t unilaterally lift them, targets Russia’s “shadow fleet” of tankers used to dodge existing sanctions, and cracks down on countries that refine Russian crude and re-export the finished product. A carve-out shields nations importing under 15% of their gas from Russia — effectively protecting Western Europe while leaving India and China exposed. President Trump would retain waiver power, but only if a country certifies a concrete timeline for cutting Russian imports.
How India Might Respond
India’s Ministry of External Affairs, with S. Jaishankar noting the country is “closely watching,” has a few levers to pull: pushing for a national-interest waiver, arguing a full pullback would spike global oil prices; gradually shifting toward Middle Eastern suppliers; and quietly reminding Washington that if India exits the Russian market, China stands to absorb all of that discounted oil instead.
What Happens Next
The bill still needs a final Senate vote, expected as soon as this week. But the House has already left for summer recess and won’t reconvene until August 31 — meaning the earliest it could reach President Trump’s desk is September 2026.
