Well, well, well, look what we have here ...
The White House is quietly lobbying House Republicans to weaken a bill overwhelmingly passed by the Senate last week that would slap tough new sanctions on Russia for its meddling in the 2016 election and allow Congress to block any future move by President Trump to lift any penalties against Moscow.
The effort is designed to head off an awkward and politically damaging veto fight between the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress on Russia at a time when Mr. Trump is laboring under the shadow of multiple investigations about his campaign’s potential collusion with Moscow.
House Republicans, normally hawkish on Russia, face a choice between demonstrating a hard line against Moscow in the face of its misconduct and sparing their own president a potentially embarrassing confrontation.
The reporting from the New York Times notes that GOP Rep. Kevin Brady, who chairs the Ways and Means Committee, has already initiated a procedural move that could result in the measure being rewritten.
On Tuesday, Sean Spicer dodged an inquiry about the White House's official position on the legislation. But anonymously speaking, White House officials peddled the notion that they're concerned the measure "usurps the president’s authority to impose such penalties" and interferes with his ability to conduct international diplomacy.
The officials said the White House wanted lawmakers to eliminate a congressional review process that would allow the House and the Senate to block the president from lifting sanctions against Russia, or to add a waiver that would permit him to circumvent such an action.
from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2rWq9a0
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