Okay, this is actually pretty astonishing. The US Senate, 97-2, voted to restrict Trump's ability to ease off sanctions against Russia. Such an ease-off had not been specifically proposed by the White House, but rumors had been flying for months.
Remember, this is a GOP-majority Senate.
'The measure lawmakers voted on Wednesday would give Congress the chance to block any efforts by the Trump administration — or any other president, for that matter — to roll back sanctions without the consent of Congress. It would also codify existing sanctions against Russia over its annexation of Crimea and involvement in the war in eastern Ukraine. The measure would then apply new sanctions against Russia for its activities in Syria, where the Kremlin is supporting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and for its alleged meddling in last year’s U.S. presidential election.
The punitive measures in the legislation are focused on various areas, including the Russian intelligence and defense sectors, parts of its energy sector, and its metals, mining and railways economy. It also includes provisions to better track and combat corruption and illicit financing structures that lead back to Russia.'
I tend to oppose on principle Congress meddling in matters of diplomacy and international foreign policy; they rarely make quick or flexible judgments in such matters. But given the erratic nature of the current Administration, as well as Trump's long-time admiration for Putin's government, this is probably not a bad thing. Certainly it's an intensely interesting thing.
Senate overwhelmingly votes to curtail Trump’s power to ease Russia sanctions
The administration is pushing back against the measure, but a veto-proof majority of senators support it.
One of the reasons this passed is because the Dems gave up any threat to the AHCA.
They decided that it was better to have President Pence than fight for their constituents.
+Stan Pedzick Can you point to something about that, Stan?
+Dave Hill I think it was on Politco yesterday, I'll see if I can find it again.
So maybe this story: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/13/senate-democrats-save-obamacare-239493
'Democrats have ruled out stopping all action, though, believing it would be counterproductive to derail the approval of new Russia sanctions, for example. They also believe that protesting unrelated nominees and legislation would distract from health care and potentially unify Republicans to pass the repeal bill.'
The overall thrust of the story is not that the Dems are giving up, but there are definitely differences in the tactics being pursued.