Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, said Thursday that he hopes American businesses “refuse to accept Russian diesel,” that the United States should not “fund Putin’s invasion and warcrimes,” and that “the President was wrong to remove sanctions on Russia,” after the Financial Times reported that New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill is weighing measures to keep Russian diesel tankers from offloading in her state.
In a post on X, Bacon shared a summary of the Financial Times report by Jamie Smyth and Alice Hancock and wrote: “I hope American businesses refuse to accept Russian diesel. We don’t want to fund Putin’s invasion and warcrimes. The President was wrong to remove sanctions on Russia.”
The Financial Times report, published Thursday under the headline “New Jersey governor threatens to block delivery of Russian diesel cargoes,” said Sherrill called President Donald Trump’s diesel arrangement with Russian President Vladimir Putin “corrupt and illegal” and was evaluating options to stop a shipment from arriving at an East Coast port. The FT wrote that any attempt by a state to block a federally licensed cargo could be tested in court.
Sherrill’s full statement was also published by The Washington Sun, which reported Thursday morning that Trump aides were privately pressing U.S. firms to accept Russian diesel already crossing the Atlantic. “Make no mistake: Trump’s diesel deal with Putin is corrupt and illegal, and I am evaluating options to stop it from arriving at a port in New Jersey,” Sherrill said, accusing Trump of “lining Vladimir Putin’s pockets at the expense of American consumers and our democratic ally Ukraine.” The Sun attributed its account of the administration’s private outreach to industry groups and analysts and did not name the aides; the White House referred the paper’s questions to Treasury. New Jersey contains the petroleum terminals of the Port of New York and New Jersey.
Bacon’s Thursday post tracks legislation he has already filed. With Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a Washington Democrat, he introduced the Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Act to nullify Treasury’s Russian diesel waiver, bar future licenses authorizing Russian energy imports, and require intelligence agencies to support Ukraine’s defense and notify congressional intelligence committees within 24 hours of any interruption. “For years, President Trump criticized Europe for buying Russian energy and propping up Putin’s war economy. Further, Congress overwhelmingly voted to impose tough sanctions on Russia. Now, Trump wants to make it easier for Putin to sell diesel fuel. He is wrong,” Bacon said in the House release announcing the bill.
The legal pathway Bacon is attacking opened on Oct. 9. Trump wrote on Truth Social that after a discussion with Putin, Russia would “immediately supply over 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel to the American and Global Marketplace, another 500,000 Tons during the month of November, and 1,000,000 Tons immediately thereafter,” with millions more tons to follow, and that diesel prices would be “COMING DOWN, IN RECORD NUMBERS, AND FAST!” The same day, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License 135, authorizing through April 7, 2027, transactions “related to the sale, delivery, offloading, or importation, including importation into the United States, of diesel fuel of Russian Federation origin,” while barring debits to U.S. accounts of Russia’s central bank, National Wealth Fund or Finance Ministry. OFAC’s official notice describes the license under that title. The Treasury said on X it acted “at President Trump’s direction.”
A week later, Trump signed an executive order waiving duties and most sanctions in the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, including a 500% tariff on Russian goods, after certifying the waivers were in the national interest. That order is separate from GL 135; the diesel import authorization rests on the OFAC license.
Democrats and some Republicans, including Bacon, argue GL 135 cannot override the Ending Importation of Russian Oil Act, Public Law 117-109, enacted April 8, 2022. Section 2 bans importation of Russian Federation products under chapter 27 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, which covers petroleum fuels including diesel, consistent with President Joe Biden’s March 2022 Executive Order 14066. Section 3 lets the president terminate that ban only by certifying to Congress that Russia has agreed to withdraw forces and end hostilities on terms accepted by Ukraine, poses no immediate military threat to NATO members, and recognizes Ukrainians’ right to choose their government, with a 90-day congressional review window. The administration has not announced a Section 3 certification.
House Judiciary ranking member Jamie Raskin made that argument in an Oct. 26 letter to the American Petroleum Institute, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, warning that importers face civil and criminal exposure, including up to 20 years’ imprisonment under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, despite GL 135. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut told The Washington Sun that “Any company or individual thinking about purchasing Russian diesel should be aware that they’re committing a crime and that Congress is watching.”
The administration disputes that framing. A Treasury official told The Washington Sun that OFAC’s “general license is consistent with actions the agency has taken in the past. We are complying with applicable laws and regulations.” Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Oct. 18 that “if Russia can bring additional diesel to the market and export it, it would benefit American consumers,” according to CNN’s transcript, and called the move “an incentive to end the war.” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told NBC’s “Meet the Press” the same day that “the only thing that has been lifted is the diesel embargo,” per the NBC transcript.
Ship-tracking data show the first cargo’s destination is still unsettled. S&P Global Energy, citing Commodities at Sea data, said the Malta-flagged Agioi Fanendes left the Russian port of Primorsk on Oct. 22 with about 40,000 metric tons and an expected New York arrival around Nov. 6–7; its AIS destination later changed to “for orders.” An Eastern Mediterranean Maritime spokesperson told the Kyiv Independent the vessel was “proceeding for orders as discharging port is not confirmed yet.” Rapidan Energy Group told clients, in a note quoted by The Washington Sun, that “Moscow and Washington are still scrambling to find takers, but we wouldn’t be surprised if the cargoes ultimately head to Brazil.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected the arrangement in an Oct. 16 European Council address. “This ‘Diesel Deal’ will never be enough to offset the impact of the Strait of Hormuz on global markets. But it will put more money straight into Putin’s pocket to fund this war,” he said, according to a post on his X account. In another post that day he wrote, “We can’t accept diesel deals, because gas deals will come next.”
Bacon’s view that buying the cargoes would “fund Putin’s invasion and warcrimes” and that Trump was “wrong to remove sanctions” puts him at odds with the administration, which says the diesel license complies with the law and, in Wright’s words, “would benefit American consumers.” GL 135 expressly authorizes U.S. imports of Russian-origin diesel through April 7, 2027, while critics including Raskin and Blumenthal argue that the 2022 import ban can be lifted only through the certification process Congress wrote into it, which has not been used. No court has ruled on the dispute. Sherrill has not said what steps New Jersey could take, and the Agioi Fanendes had not confirmed a discharge port as of Thursday.