In July, Congress passed legislation that imposed new sanctions on Russia as a result of their obvious, revealed interference in the 2016 election. Trump first tried to block the bill, then he reluctantly signed the legislation in August after attaching both a note of protest and an angry tweet. Since then he’s missed every deadline for following through on those sanctions. In October, Trump didn’t just miss a deadline, he disbanded the sanctions office.
Implementation of the law—like most laws—falls on the executive branch. But Trump has consistently complained, dragged his feet, and failed to act.
Today is the final day for Trump to comply with the law.
Trump faces a major deadline to use the Russia sanctions power that Congress overwhelmingly voted to give him — and it’s anybody’s guess as to whether he’ll comply on time after missing the last deadline.
If Trump doesn’t follow through today, it’s no big deal. He’ll just be in violation of the law and flaunting the power of Congress.
The Treasury Department is required to begin imposing sanctions against entities doing business with Russia’s defense and intelligence sectors as well as to produce a hotly anticipated list of oligarchs maintaining close ties to Putin.
That list is almost certain to include oligarchs who have their names on Trump properties—or at least on the Cyprus-based LLCs that own those Trump properties. The reluctance to begin work on the sanctions shows where Trump’s real loyalties, and real fears, actually lie.
Is he ready to defy Congress , to protect Vladimir Putin?
The bill was not exactly as partisan squeaker. It passed through the Senate on a vote of 98–2. Trump’s unwillingness to act on the sanctions represents at the very least a continued stubbornness concerning Russia and an unwillingness to admit to the interference that took place during the election. Trump seems to view any suggestion that Russia conducted a campaign of disinformation and influence as a threat to the legitimacy of his election. Because it is.
But his willingness to hold his pride solidly above the application of the law represents a crystal clear example of how he regards … everything. Any law that Trump doesn’t like, is fake law. Because this law makes him angry, he’s taking steps to make sure it’s not enforced.
Even should Trump act at the last moment to remain within technical compliance with the law, it seems certain that he will do the bare minimum, at the slowest possible speed, to generate a completely negligible effect.
Whether the administration can be persuaded to use the full extent of the authority Congress gave it last year, however, is another matter. The sanctions due Monday under the bill that Trump signed in August can be delayed or waived, but any waiver would have to come with a certification to lawmakers that Russia has made major progress in cutting back on cyber-meddling.
Trump isn’t just deliberately protecting his Russian friends. He’s leaving the door wide open to interference in 2018 and beyond.
