WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Lindsey Graham's pursuit of a Russia sanctions bill has taken on renewed urgency after his death as colleagues look to pay tribute and build on the progress he made in gaining the White House's support for the measure.
Supporters of Ukraine have been working for more than a year to pass a bill that would impose steep tariffs on goods from countries that continue to buy Russian oil, gas and other exports. They unveiled a revised measure Tuesday with the goal of depriving Russia of money it uses to fund its war against Ukraine.
Some lawmakers worried the original bill was too broad and could harm the economies of some of the U.S.'s strongest allies that have also helped Ukraine. The White House wanted to ensure the president had adequate flexibility to waive sanctions when it is the national interest to do so. The revised bill attempts to address both concerns.
The final bill more narrowly applies the tariffs to the world's top five purchasers of Russia oil or natural gas, according to a summary. China and India are at the top of that list, sponsors said. It also dramatically reduces the tariffs from a blanket 500% to up to 100%, and it provides exceptions for countries that import less than 15% of their natural gas from Russia and are taking steps to reduce those imports.
The bill also includes sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin, senior Russian political and military leaders, and Russian financial institutions and energy projects. It would also expand U.S. sanctions to target older, reflagged oil tankers that Russia uses to circumvent existing U.S. sanctions on Russian oil and energy revenues.
Graham and colleagues who had been working on the legislation issued a statement Friday announcing that significant progress had been made in talks with the Trump administration. The senator passed away late Saturday before the revised bill could be unveiled.
Graham had just returned from Ukraine and discussed the sanctions bill with President Donald Trump in a call shortly before his death.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who was working with Graham on the legislation, said he would be in favor of naming the bill after Graham.
“It's part of his legacy,” Blumenthal said.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called Monday on Senate Majority Leader John Thune to bring the sanctions bill to the floor immediately “in honor of Lindsey,” saying “it will pass overwhelmingly and help our allies in Ukraine.”
Thune said he was “hopeful we can make that happen."
“It would certainly be an incredible legacy for him if, in fact, we can find a path forward. It’ll take Democrats and Republicans here in the Senate to do that,” Thune said on CNN.
The bill has support from more than two dozen senators so far and aides said the list was growing. The House passed a much different bill last month that included more than $1 billion in security and reconstruction aid for Ukraine as well as making another $8 billion available for Ukraine’s defense through loans.
Blumenthal said he spoke with Graham last week about the progress he had made in talks with the White House.
“He was absolutely ecstatic. You know, I’ve never heard him quite as exuberant.”
Graham traveled to Ukraine last week and offered the country reason to be optimistic, telling reporters that sweeping, hard-hitting new economic sanctions against Russia were finally within reach. He said he would be heading back to Washington to meet with bipartisan leaders to advance the proposal.
Lawmakers said no one had done more to advance the sanctions bill than Graham. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., said Graham was overjoyed when Trump gave the nod to move forward.
“He did a lot of big things, but this one he believed would have the largest impact, would make the biggest difference,” Britt said.
Senators said the war has generated a heavy human and economic cost for both nations, but Ukraine has momentum on its side.
“Unfortunately, if the Kremlin is able to fund its war machine through the sale of oil and gas, it's going to be able to keep going, and that's what this bill is going to do," said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. "It's going to stop those purchases. It's going to make clear those purchases come with real costs."
It's unclear when the bill will come up for a vote in the Senate, but Blumenthal said Thune has made clear he's ready to move “when we have the votes.”
“And I think we have the votes,” Blumenthal said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to reporters as he arrives at his office after praising the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The U.S. flag flies at half-staff at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, July 13, 2026, after the sudden death of prominent Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
MADRID (AP) — Thousands of people who travel every day between the southern tip of Spain and the British territory of Gibraltar will no longer have to cross a physical border, beginning on Wednesday.
The official opening at midnight on Tuesday — after a border fence was fully removed — allows a new freedom of movement under a historic treaty between the European Union and the United Kingdom. It came after years of post-Brexit wrangling.
The contested British Overseas Territory of 38,000 people is perched at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, in a strategic location mere miles from Morocco where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean Sea.
Throngs of people in Spain's La Línea de Concepción crossed into Gibraltar after midnight and vice-versa, many in Spanish soccer jerseys after Spain's team defeated France in the World Cup semi-finals on Tuesday.
“What you feel here is the brotherhood between the two people,” Gibraltar's Chief Minister Fabian Picardo told Spanish broadcaster RTVE.
When Britain left the EU in 2020, the relationship between Gibraltar and the bloc had been left unresolved.
Previous talks on a deal to ensure people and goods could keep flowing across the border had made halting progress. In 2025, the EU and U.K. announced an agreement on those issues, with the two sides and Gibraltar’s government signing a treaty Tuesday that eases border crossings.
The U.K.’s Foreign Office Minister Stephen Doughty said Tuesday that the agreement secured Gibraltar’s long-term economic future and interests.
Maroš Šefčovič, the EU’s trade representative, praised the agreement, too.
“It has taken four years of patient, complex negotiation, but the outcome speaks for itself,” Šefčovič said. “It is a very special feeling to see a fence come down.”
Without a deal, Gibraltar could have a faced a hard land border with full passport checks, posing economic risks for the territory deeply dependent on some 15,000 Spaniards — almost half of Gibraltar’s workforce — who cross the frontier every day for work.
Leisure visits by people crossing both sides of the border would have been affected, too.
“People who are visiting family in Spain, or whose Spanish family is visiting them in Gibraltar. Children who are going to football matches and extracurricular activities, either in Spain or in Gibraltar. They will be able to do that without having to worry about frontier queues,” Picardo told The Associated Press in an interview.
The deal in effect brings the territory into the EU’s Schengen free travel area. At Gibraltar’s airport and port, entry and exit checks will be conducted by both U.K. and Spanish border officials. The arrangement is similar to what’s in place at Eurostar train stations in London and Paris, where both British and French officials check passports.
Gibraltar was ceded to Britain in 1713, but Spain has maintained its sovereignty claim ever since. Relations between the two countries on the issue of Gibraltar have had their ups and downs over the centuries. The treaty that removed the border fence does not resolve the territory’s contested status.
In Britain’s 2016 Brexit referendum, 96% of voters in the Rock, as the territory is popularly known in English, supported remaining in the EU.
Travelers to Gibraltar from countries outside the Schengen area — including the U.K. — will have to contend with the EU Entry-Exit System, or EES, which was rolled out in Europe in April and replaced passport stamps with biometric data collected through photographs and digital fingerprints.
With the border fence gone, Gibraltar officials have set up live facial recognition cameras at entry points and throughout the territory.
Chief Minister Picardo said the territory will have many more CCTV cameras, and that it has increased its police presence as well as resources for customs and Coast Guard agencies.
“The fortress has become a digital fortress now,” Picardo said.
People queue to cross the border between Spain and Gibraltar, in La Linea de la Concepcion, Spain, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno)
A Spanish Guardia Civil officer holds a sign during the dismantling of a border checkpoint that separated Spain from the disputed British overseas territory of Gibraltar in La Línea de la Concepción, Spain, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno)
People queue to cross the border between Spain and Gibraltar, in La Linea de la Concepcion, Spain, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno)
Against the backdrop of the Rock of Gibraltar, workers dismantle a Spanish border checkpoint that separated the disputed British overseas territory from Spain in La Línea de la Concepción, Spain, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno)
Against the backdrop of the Rock of Gibraltar, workers dismantle a Spanish border checkpoint that separated the disputed British overseas territory from Spain in La Línea de la Concepción, Spain, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno)
