Congress
House members move to force Russia sanctions vote as Trump pushes peace deal
A bipartisan coalition of pro-Ukraine lawmakers will seek to force a House vote to impose crippling sanctions on Russia, even as President Donald Trump is moving to swiftly clinch a peace deal between the two warring nations.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) said in an X post Friday that he and his allies have “officially notified both the Clerk of the House and House leadership of our discharge petition to force a vote on crushing Russian sanctions immediately upon our return” from the Thanksgiving holiday recess.
Fitzpatrick was responding to news that Trump wants the Ukrainian government to approve the draft peace deal assembled by his envoy Steve Witkoff no later than Thursday. The plan would cede vast portions of eastern Ukraine to Russia in exchange for a security guarantee from western nations.
Trump appeared to be putting pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with his Thanksgiving ultimatum, but the House lawmakers have their eye on Russian President Vladimir Putin — and they believe they have Trump’s blessing.
House and Senate GOP leaders have held off for months, awaiting a clear signal from Trump, but with the president more determined to impose a peace plan than ever, rank-and-file members are determined to act.
A discharge petition can circumvent the majority leadership if 218 House members sign it; it has been used to pressure Speaker Mike Johnson multiple times this year — most recently to pass legislation on the so-called Epstein files.
Fitzpatrick and other members of the Ukraine Caucus have offered sanctions legislation alongside Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Fitzpatrick filed a resolution earlier this year setting up a possible effort to discharge that bill but did not immediately trigger it.
Lawmakers could also force a vote on a bill from Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) and Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) that would pair Russia sanctions with assistance for Ukraine. The bipartisan Ukraine Caucus is set to hold a virtual meeting Monday to “talk about what the best strategy is to get something done quickly,” Fitzpatrick said in an interview Friday.
“We’re talking about potentially moving them together if the sanctions are not brought to the floor in short order,” Fitzpatrick said ahead of his social media post.
Fitzpatrick said he has been talking to Johnson about the sanctions bill and believes the speaker is supportive of the legislation. Noticing his intention to force a vote now, with the House leaving for a weeklong recess, effectively gives Johnson until early December to find an off-ramp.
President Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson will meet at the White House Tuesday with the executives of top artificial intelligence companies, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss private plans.
The meeting comes as Congress is coming under increasing pressure to put federal guardrails on AI development, as fears mount that technological advancements could soon spiral beyond human control.
Responding to some warnings that AI development was on track to cause human extinction by the end of the decade, Johnson has said he wants Trump and AI CEOs to “go in a big room, close the door and sort this out.” He has yet to endorse major legislative action to address the issue, as Trump has resisted calls for government regulations, citing concerns about lagging behind China.
The president and speaker were in attendance at the State Dinner on Thursday night in honor of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington, as were OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. It was not immediately clear which of these executives would be invited to next week’s meeting, and who will be participating.
News that the meeting had been scheduled was first reported by Axios.
A group of 10 Democrats has signed on to Rep. Greg Casar’s (D-Texas) bill that would ban superintelligence and pause advanced AI development until a vetting regime could be stood up.
Reps. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), both of whom are mulling a 2028 presidential run, are cosponsoring the bill, named the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act.
Khanna, in a statement, noted that he convened a hearing this week on AI safety cooperation between the U.S. and China as ranking member of the House China Select Committee with AI experts who underscored the need for a verifiable pause on superintelligence.
AI superintelligence is an as-yet hypothetical form of the advanced technology that surpasses humans’ cognitive capabilities, but exactly when AI crosses the threshold into superintelligence remains contested. The bill would subject violators to a 20-year prison sentence.
The support from prominent progressives in the Democratic caucus comes as the party is navigating how they would approach AI regulation should they retake control of one or both chambers in November.
Other cosponsors include Reps. Analilia Mejia of New Jersey, Yassamin Ansari and Adelita Grijalva of Arizona, Val Hoyle of Oregon, Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts, Chuy García of Illinois, Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania and Nydia Velázquez of New York.
“We absolutely have to slow down and regulate the advancement of dangerous AI technologies that have the potential to spiral out-of-control and threaten humanity,” Ansari said.
To Lynch, a string of recent AI-led cyberbreaches has “shown us that the advanced forms of this are out of control,” he said in an interview. “We haven’t really solved that control problem yet, nor have we got the alignment problem right yet.”
Casar’s bill, introduced this week with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), is among the most stringent AI regulations proposed by either party.
Rather than focusing on bans as Casar and his progressive allies have done, centrist Democrats are looking to legislative proposals they say can address the technology’s risks without stifling innovation.
Senate Republicans are discussing whether to call up a data center utility costs bill as they make plans to stay in Washington next week rather than beat an early exit before the midterms.
Two GOP aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the Senate will remain in town amid pressure from some corners of the party to send members home early to campaign.
Asked if the Senate will stay next week, Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday it’s “looking that way.”
While some lawmakers had hoped to move a long-brewing bipartisan energy permitting deal, those hopes have evaporated, and GOP leaders are instead eyeing votes on the Ratepayer Protection Act — a top priority of endangered Ohio Sen. Jon Husted.
Thune said Thursday moving to the data-center-focused bill next week “is an option.” The Senate is also expected to take up a Democratic resolution condemning the Iran war and several presidential nominations.
The Ratepayer Protection Act easily passed the House earlier this month, but some Senate Democrats are arguing it does not go far enough and party leaders could be motivated to deny Husted a pre-election win.
Josh Siegel contributed to this report.
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