Several factors drove congressional Democrats to prod their own president to ban Russian oil imports with stunning speed. But perhaps the most important was the messenger: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
.over the weekend, as Russian attacks intensified in his country. But U.S. lawmakers saw ending fossil-fuel purchases from Moscow as the one Zelenskyy ask they could actually deliver on.
“The situation on the ground is only getting worse, and as Putin goes up the ladder of what he’s willing to do to innocent women and children, we should keep going up the ladder of what we’re willing to do to stop him,” Rep. said. “As we’ve leaned in on sanctions and bans, the world is joining us, the private sector is joining us, and Americans also support it.”
High on the list of divisive topics raised by the proposed oil ban is Republicans’ eagerness to slam Biden for inhibiting domestic oil production, which they said could alleviate the pressures on American consumers that will likely be caused by limiting global supply. Doing so would have caused a jump in tariffs on certain products from those countries, putting their producers at a disadvantage compared to countries more friendly to the U.S., who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee’s trade subpanel, said the revised legislation “is not all that I would like it to be” but acknowledged that House Democrats have to move at a pace that matches the administration’s “comfort level.