The White House: The law on sanctions against Russia has no legal effect due to a violation of the procedure of its approval
The bill with a strengthened package of sanctions against Russia, which was passed almost unanimously in the US Senate, has no legal effect due to a violation of the procedure of its approval. This was announced on Monday, June 26 during a briefing by the representative of the White House, Sean Spicer, Ukrinform reports.
"The decision of the Senate was adopted in violation of procedure, so there is no new bill at this time," he said. Spicer did not comment on US President Trump’s position on supporting additional pressure on Russia, and noted that the President had said many times that he would not disclose his intentions.
Spicer responded to criticism of the collusion between Trump's Presidential campaign and Russia, saying that this was not the case. According to him, this is confirmed by the fact that the administration of the previous President Barack Obama knew about the actions of Russia during the elections, however they did not apply measures in response.
On June 14, the US Senate adopted the bill S. 722 with an overwhelming majority, which introduces additional sanctions against Russia and significantly reduces the powers of the President to abolish existing sanctions.
Later, it became known that this document contains provisions that concern budget financing. According to the constitution, such bills must first be approved by the House of Representatives, and only then considered by the US Senate.