A bipartisan group of 22 House lawmakers is invoking the legacy of the late Senator Lindsey Graham in a new push for President Donald Trump to revoke his administration's Russian diesel authorization, arguing for renewed economic pressure on Moscow.
In a letter sent Thursday to Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the lawmakers urged the administration to fully implement the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 and revoke General License 135, which authorized transactions involving Russian-origin diesel.
"We are particularly concerned by Treasury's October 9 issuance of General License 135, which authorizes transactions involving Russian-origin diesel, including imports into the United States," the lawmakers wrote. "We urge the Administration to revoke this license and not issue further general licenses that reopen Russian energy transactions and restore revenue to the Kremlin's war chest."
The intervention marks a new, more coordinated phase of congressional opposition to Trump's Russia diesel agreement. Republican lawmakers criticized the arrangement individually in the days after its announcement, while several senators joined a bipartisan statement urging the administration to reverse course.
The new letter turns those objections into a formal bipartisan appeal to the president, while tying the lawmakers' case to a sanctions law Trump signed less than a month ago.
The White House defended the diesel authorization, telling Newsweek on Thursday that it would help increase global supply and lower prices.
“President Trump successfully negotiated another great deal to supply the global market with massive amounts of diesel and bring prices down,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said. “Lowering prices for America’s great farmers, truckers, and families remains a top priority as the President simultaneously urges both sides of the Russia-Ukraine conflict to stop strikes against refineries, which are driving up costs and hurting American consumers.”
Republicans Join Democrats in Push Against Trump Russia Diesel Deal
The letter was led by Democratic Representative Jim Costa of California and signed by Republicans Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Joe Wilson of South Carolina, Michael McCaul of Texas, Don Bacon of Nebraska and Dan Newhouse of Washington.
Democratic signatories include Steny Hoyer of Maryland, Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, Jared Golden of Maine and others.
Several of the Republicans had already publicly objected to the diesel agreement.
Bacon said that while Americans needed lower diesel prices, "buying Russian fuel is the wrong answer.” McCaul warned that lifting sanctions on Russian oil could help finance the Kremlin's war effort.
Fitzpatrick had separately announced plans to introduce the bipartisan Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Act, which he said would block "any and all purchases of Russian oil." Thursday's letter instead asks Trump to revoke the existing Treasury authorization for Russian diesel transactions.
Wilson's participation adds another political dimension. His campaign has publicly highlighted Trump's endorsement, saying it was "grateful to President Trump for his complete and total endorsement." In the endorsement statement Wilson's campaign reproduced, Trump said the congressman had been with his movement "from the very beginning."
The lawmakers' request goes beyond objections to the diesel arrangement. They want the administration to impose sanctions on Russian officials, oligarchs, banks and state enterprises, as well as foreign banks, shadow-fleet operators and other intermediaries that help Russia evade restrictions.
"As Russia prepares to wage a fifth winter campaign against Ukraine, the United States has an opportunity to reinvigorate peace efforts by placing maximum pressure on [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and the governments and networks that finance his war," they wrote.
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The lawmakers also want the administration to explain how General License 135 squares with existing U.S. restrictions on Russian energy. Among five questions addressed to the administration, they asked: "How does the Administration reconcile General License 135 with the existing statutory ban on Russian energy imports, and what impact does it expect the license to have on Russia's energy revenues?"
That issue had already become a point of contention between congressional Republicans and the administration. Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday that there was a "legitimate case" for saying Trump was "not following the law."
Bessent rejected that argument, saying the administration would carry out the agreement using existing legal authority.
"Anyone in Congress who says whether it's an old bill or the current Lindsey Graham bill [that] prohibits us from doing it is wrong," he told Fox News' Fox & Friends.
Thursday's letter takes that dispute directly to the White House, asking the administration to explain how the diesel authorization aligns with existing law while also demanding that Trump revoke the license.
Lindsey Graham Russia Sanctions Law Puts New Pressure on Trump
The Graham law is central to the lawmakers' argument. The South Carolina Republican championed the measure before his death in July.
The legislation passed the Senate 86-11, and the House 262-159 before Trump signed it into law on September 18. It authorizes and expands sanctions, tariffs and other restrictions targeting Russia and extends existing sanctions on Iran.
Among other provisions, the law allows tariffs of up to 100 percent on major purchasers of Russian oil and natural gas and expands measures targeting Russia's government, financial sector and sanctions-evasion networks.
Trump subsequently highlighted the powers Congress had provided him. In a September 22 address to the United Nations General Assembly, he said the Graham Act gave him "enormous new tariff authorities" and that, "if necessary," he would have to use them.
Trump later delivered the eulogy at Graham's funeral.
Graham's legacy had already become part of the Republican argument against Trump's diesel agreement. Former Vice President Mike Pence called the move "a betrayal of the legacy and leadership of the late Senator Lindsey Graham" and urged Trump to "rescind this deal immediately."
The new House letter gives that argument institutional weight, invoking the law named for Graham while urging Trump to increase economic pressure on Moscow rather than ease restrictions on Russian energy transactions.
"Putin has repeatedly shown that he responds to pressure, not goodwill," the lawmakers wrote Thursday. "This will make clear that American resolve is bipartisan and durable, and that the cost of continuing this war will only grow until Russia comes to the negotiating table."
October 18 marks the first implementation deadline under the Graham sanctions law. The lawmakers asked the White House to spell out which mandatory sanctions, secondary tariffs and prohibitions will be implemented by that date, whether any provisions will be delayed or waived, which Russian officials and entities will be designated, and which countries will face secondary tariffs.
Trump Defends Russia Diesel Deal Amid Republican Backlash
Trump announced the diesel arrangement on October 9 after what he described as a "highly successful discussion" with Putin.
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control subsequently issued General License 135 at Trump's direction, authorizing transactions involving the "sale, delivery, offloading, and importation of diesel fuel of Russian Federation origin.”
Trump said Russia would initially supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel to American and global markets, followed by larger quantities, and predicted that increasing supply would drive prices down.
The announcement quickly drew resistance from Republicans and Democrats. Republican critics included Senators Susan Collins, John Curtis, John Kennedy, Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan and Tillis, together with House Republicans including Bacon, Fitzpatrick and McCaul.
Trump has defended the deal despite the criticism, arguing that adding more diesel to global markets could lower prices. The agreement comes as high diesel costs have become a major economic and political concern ahead of the November midterm elections.
"The Kremlin's fearful response to this law underlines its power to finally force Russia to stop the killing," the lawmakers wrote.
They added that they want any sanctions waivers to be "narrow, time-limited, and tied to measurable reductions in support for Russia's war," while insisting that no waiver should defer the law's core provisions.
With the October 18 implementation deadline approaching, the lawmakers urged Trump to implement the Graham law "fully and faithfully," setting up a near-term test of whether the administration will intensify economic pressure on Russia while continuing to defend its diesel agreement.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Samantha Beech and Sam Wilson.