Graham Act Waiver: Trump Shelves New Russia Sanctions

The Graham Act waiver landed late Friday night, and it flips one of Washington's biggest Russia moves on its head. President Donald Trump signed an executive order setting aside the toughest parts of a sanctions law he signed himself just last month, two days before they were set to bite.

The law is the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, named for the late senator and noted Russia hawk. According to Bloomberg, Trump invoked a waiver clause because the measures complicated his push to lower diesel prices ahead of the midterm elections.

What the order actually does

The act gave the president thirty days to impose tariffs of up to one hundred percent on goods from the top five buyers of Russian crude oil and gas. That list was expected to include China and India. It also called for sanctions on Russian officials, banks and a shadow fleet of tankers, according to the Associated Press.

Trump's order waives those pieces. In the order he wrote that he was "hereby waiving the application of such sanctions, restrictions, and duties provided for in the Graham Act," and said he had told Congress the move serves the national interest. Reporting from CNBC notes that sanctions already in place under earlier orders stay on the books.

The diesel deal behind it

The timing makes more sense next to the diesel agreement Trump announced a week earlier. Local media quoted him saying Russia could immediately begin supplying three hundred thousand tons of diesel, then another five hundred thousand tons in November, then one million tons soon after, according to Xinhua via China Daily. Washington has agreed to buy Russian diesel to ease fuel costs.

That matters for anyone who drives, flies or orders stuff online. The Associated Press reports that high fuel prices, more than seven months into the US-Iran war, are making it pricier to drive, fly and buy some goods. Cheaper diesel is a political lifeline before November, and this Graham Act waiver is the price Trump seems willing to pay for it.

Pushback from Europe and Congress

Not everyone is buying the logic. According to Anadolu Agency, EU leaders said they regretted the decision to temporarily lift sanctions on Russian diesel and promised to urgently weigh further restrictive measures and tighter visas for Russian nationals. French President Emmanuel Macron said the deal "sends a negative message" and would not change global prices.

In Washington, Representative Gregory Meeks introduced a bipartisan bill to block the administration from buying and importing Russian diesel. He argues it would help Moscow without giving American consumers real savings. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged backing for the sanctions that were put on hold.

Strange bedfellows on the vote

The reaction has not split neatly along party lines. Republican Representative Thomas Massie, one of only seven Republicans who voted against the bill, said he was glad Trump used the authority Congress granted to waive almost all the Russia provisions, calling the law "stupid." Critics on the other side say the waiver proves the sanctions were never meant to bite.

The order also says the waivers last until Trump, or the secretary of state working with other officials, decides further action is needed. That leaves the door open to reviving the penalties on short notice, which gives the White House leverage over Moscow but also leaves allies guessing.

Why Gen Z should care

Sanctions sound abstract until they hit your wallet. Diesel moves freight, and freight moves everything from groceries to sneakers. If the Russian supply deal does pull prices down, shoppers could feel it. If it just props up Russia's war budget, as critics say, the war that is already reshaping energy markets drags on longer.

There is also a bigger story about how much power a president has to rewrite a law after it passes. Congress wrote the waiver clause in, so the move is legal on its face. Whether lawmakers push back with their own legislation will be the next thing to watch, and you can follow more of our politics coverage as it unfolds.

For now, the sanctions that were supposed to start next week are on ice. What happens after the midterms is anyone's guess, but the Graham Act waiver has already turned a headline law into a bargaining chip.