Rep. James E. Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat, on Saturday called President Donald Trump’s waiver of new Russia sanctions “an insult to Sen. Lindsey Graham’s memory and legacy.” He added in a post on X, “More importantly, what a betrayal of America’s values and interests.”
Clyburn wrote that “Republicans in Congress who claim to share the late Sen. Graham’s principled commitment to the defense of freedom in Ukraine must join Democrats in acting to override this president’s disgraceful appeasement of his pal Putin.” The post did not say what legislative step he had in mind.
Clyburn posted the morning after Trump signed an executive order on Oct. 16 implementing the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026. The order waives the law’s duties in sections 112 and 113 and its sanctions and restrictions in sections 102(a), 102(d), 102(e), 103 through 111 and 117.
The waived duties include a 500% tariff on goods from Russia and 100% tariffs on goods from the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas that make new purchases on or after Oct. 18, as well as from the top five countries helping Russia evade oil sanctions.
Clyburn’s post quoted one by Bloomberg reporter Steven Dennis that highlighted remarks by Sen. Darline Graham, a South Carolina Republican and the late senator’s sister. “This legislation tells Russia’s customers that the United States of America will not sit by while they fund Putin’s assault,” she said in an Aug. 7 floor speech urging passage, according to the Congressional Record.
Dennis’s post said Trump acted “days after he decided the US and the world should buy Russian diesel instead.” On Oct. 9, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Putin had agreed Russia would “immediately supply over 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel to the American and Global Marketplace,” with more to follow, and that diesel prices would be “COMING DOWN.”
The same day, the Treasury Department said that “at President Trump’s direction” it was issuing a temporary license “to allow the supply of Russian diesel to the global market.” The Office of Foreign Assets Control’s General License 135 authorizes Russian-origin diesel transactions, including imports into the United States, through April 7, 2027.
Lindsey Graham died in July. Clyburn said in a July 12 statement that the two had “a relationship grounded in mutual respect, even when our political differences were significant.” Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Darline Graham to the seat on July 13, and she took the oath on July 14, according to her congressional biography.
The Senate passed the bill, H.R. 5334, 86-11 on Aug. 7, the Senate roll call shows. The House agreed to the Senate amendments 262-159 on Sept. 16, with Clyburn among the 58 Democrats voting yes, according to House Clerk records. Trump signed it into law on Sept. 18.
The order says Trump sent Congress a certification that the waivers are “in the national interests of the United States,” as section 115 of the law requires, along with a report explaining the basis. The waivers remain in effect until the president or the secretary of state determines “further action is appropriate,” and the order leaves in place sanctions imposed under earlier Russia-related executive orders.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, in a clip posted by the State Department, that the president “wants to take this 60-day period to analyze what imposing both sanctions and tariffs will mean for the global economy and the U.S. economy.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said “no one has been tougher on Russian sanctions than President Trump,” in a clip posted by the White House’s Rapid Response account. In another clip, he said, “The Europeans have given Russia and Vladimir Putin more money than they’ve given the Ukrainians. They continue to gorge on Russian energy… Why should the U.S. go at it alone?”
Darline Graham, who is running for a full term with Trump’s endorsement, said she and the president want the same outcome. “The president and I share the same goal, which is to end the war, to get gas and diesel prices down, and the sanctions bill is one of the tools he can use to do that,” she said at a campaign stop on Saturday, according to an Associated Press report.
“It’s up to him whether or not he chooses to use it. Personally, I would choose to keep the pressure on Russia,” she said, “because I don’t trust Putin and I don’t trust Russia.” As of Sunday, she had not addressed the waiver in a post on her X account.
Other Republicans were divided. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina wrote that the move was “beyond irresponsible,” and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas wrote, “Lindsey would be appalled.” Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, one of seven House Republicans who voted no, wrote that he was “glad to see Trump has used the executive authority granted to him by Congress.”
A day before the order, a bipartisan group of House members that included Republicans Michael McCaul, Brian Fitzpatrick and Don Bacon sent Trump a letter urging “full and faithful implementation” of the law and asking the administration to revoke General License 135. Clyburn was not among the signers.
National-interest waivers of Russia-related sanctions are not new. In May 2021, then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken waived sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and its chief executive under a pipeline sanctions law, citing the national interest. A search of Clyburn’s X posts from that period found none addressing that waiver.
The law sets out no congressional review process for waivers. Under the law’s text, a section 115 waiver requires only the certification and report, while the 30-day review and joint resolution of disapproval in section 117 apply to terminations of sanctions, not waivers.
The words “insult,” “betrayal” and “disgraceful appeasement,” and the description of Putin as Trump’s “pal,” are Clyburn’s characterizations; the executive order describes the waivers as being in the national interest. The certification and report the order says were sent to Congress have not been made public, and the 60-day timeframe is Rubio’s, not the order’s, which sets no end date. Clyburn’s office has not posted a press release on the waiver.