HOUSE OF REPS/RUSSIA/SANCTIONS/TREASURY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Thursday [1-17-19] to block the Trump administration from lifting sanctions on a Russian oligarch with deep ties to Vladimir Putin. The effort, a joint resolution of disapproval, would overturn the Treasury Department’s December decision to ease sanctions on companies tied to Oleg Deripaska, who was sanctioned last year as part of a broader congressional push to punish Moscow for interfering in the 2016 presidential election. A similar Senate effort failed Wednesday [1-16-19], ensuring that the resolution will not advance to President Donald Trump’s desk. But the 362-53 House vote on Thursday represented yet another bipartisan rebuke of the Trump administration’s policies toward the Kremlin and further exposed GOP discontent with the president’s foreign policy goals…Trump and his administration have come under fire from lawmakers, including Republicans, for their policies and posture toward Russia in light of its election meddling and its incursions into Eastern Europe and the Middle East.”
–Andrew Desiderio, “House rebukes Trump for easing Russia sanctions,” Politico, January 17, 2019 1:18 pm