The Senate passed a sweeping Russia sanctions bill negotiated by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham on Friday.
Watch the Senate floor in the video player above.
Passage of the bill signals renewed bipartisan support for Ukraine as the war drags on.
The legislation would penalize countries that continue to buy Russian oil, gas and other exports. It comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the Capitol late last month and watched from the gallery as the Senate took the first procedural votes on the legislation.
READ MORE: Senate passes sweeping Russia sanctions bill negotiated by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham
The legislation allows the president to impose tariffs on the world’s top five purchasers of Russian oil or natural gas, including China and India. The package next goes to the House.
Zelenskyy grateful to Senate for passing sanctions bill
The Ukrainian president said the measure would help increase pressure on Russia to bring an end to the over four-year war.
“Ukraine values ALL the support the United States provides to Ukraine — from both parties and from the American people as a whole,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on social media.
Zelenskyy said as Ukraine works to secure more air defense systems to help stop Russia’s campaign to hit the country with large-scale ballistic missile attacks every signal of support for bringing a swift end to the war was extremely important.
“Real, strong American pressure and sanctions against Russia are what will help most. Diplomacy comes closer with every step that increases pressure on the aggressor. Thank you to everyone who understands this and is advancing PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH,” Zelenskyy wrote.
Senate confirms Cameron Hamilton to lead FEMA
The Senate on Friday confirmed Cameron Hamilton as head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, returning the former Navy SEAL to the embattled agency he led temporarily last year only to be fired after he publicly opposed eliminating it.
He will take over an agency whose future has been uncertain since Trump threatened to get rid of it days into his second term. Hamilton’s nomination signaled that Trump may be moving on from that idea, but his Republican administration is still promising drastic changes in how the government handles disasters.
READ MORE: Senate confirms Cameron Hamilton to lead FEMA and clears 73 other Trump nominees
Hamilton will have to shepherd that overhaul while stabilizing an agency of more than 20,000 employees recovering from a slew of chaotic policies enacted during Kristi Noem’s tenure leading the Department of Homeland Security.
Senate confirms 74 Trump nominations, including TSA leader and ambassador to Brazil
The Senate also confirmed David Cummins as head of the Transportation Security Administration, an agency facing persistent challenges, particularly after this year’s record partial government shutdown left TSA employees working for weeks without pay.
He is taking over as the Trump administration seeks to expand private airport screening and cut thousands of TSA jobs.
Daniel Perez, a close friend of Secretary of State Marco Rubio and a former speaker of Florida’s House of Representatives, was confirmed to be the next U.S. ambassador to Brazil. Perez has been central to an ongoing diplomatic dispute between the Trump administration and the government of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Earlier this week, the State Department said the Brazilian government’s refusal to accept Perez’s appointment was a main reason for its decision to revoke the visa of Brazil’s ambassador to the United States.
Sen. Cassidy supports Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination
Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy said on the Senate floor Friday he’ll back Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general, likely paving the way for Blanche to be confirmed to lead President Trump’s Justice Department.
The Louisiana senator announced his support on the Senate floor after Blanche’s confirmation was thrown into doubt over opposition from two other Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine.
WATCH: Sen. Cassidy says he’ll vote to confirm Todd Blanche for attorney general
Blanche’s path to confirmation has been complicated over a settlement of Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service that’s drawn intense scrutiny by Republicans and Democrats alike.
The settlement called for the creation of a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who feel mistreated by the criminal justice system and provided Trump and family members with immunity from tax audits.
Cassidy says confirming Blanche is better than Trump picking someone else
Cassidy affirmed on the Senate floor that he still worries about Trump’s influence over the Justice Department, especially the prospects of a $1.8 billion fund for possible payouts to the president’s supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. But Cassidy said, essentially, that confirming Blanche is better than allowing Trump to pick another potential Justice Department chief.
“This is not a referendum on President Trump, it is a decision regarding Mr. Blanche in very specific circumstances,” Cassidy said.
Republicans Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine had already said they wouldn’t support Blanche’s confirmation, effectively leaving his confirmation up to Cassidy.
Cassidy voted to convict Trump on impeachment charges in 2021. He lost a Republican primary earlier this year after the president endorsed his opponent.
