House’s Russia Sanctions Bill Stalls Over Efforts to Add North Korea to It

The House version of a bill that intends to dramatic limit the ability of President Trump to ease sanctions on Russia appears to be effectively stalled, as the House leadership attempts to re-do the bill, adding new sanctions against North Korea to it.

The leadership had initially stalled the vote claiming a technical incompatibility with the already-passed Senate version, but even after the Senate made the requested changes, they’ve shown no sign of moving, except for talking up the idea of adding North Korea.

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R – CA) says the US needs to send a “very strong statement” by putting North Korea into the sanctions bill that was supposed to be about Russia. Democrats are complaining that it’s just a delaying tactic, and the revised version will probably never see the light of day.

Senate Republican leaders are saying they’d be fine with adding North Korea to the bill too, even though that would mean yet another vote the accommodate the House. Whether the House ever actually makes such a move, however, remains to be seen.