The bipartisan authors of sweeping Russia sanctions legislation are hoping the Senate is finally ready to consider their bill after President Donald Trump hit Moscow’s energy sector with penalties this week.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a close Trump ally and coauthor of legislation taking aim at Russian oil and gas revenue, said Congress “should continue the pressure.” He said the Senate could schedule a “Russia week” in which it takes up several bills related to Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

Graham and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) have been pressing for months for a vote on their measure to implement steep tariffs on countries that import Russian energy and secondary sanctions on foreign companies that aid in its energy production.

“We have the ability to create a sanction regime that would be beyond legal challenge,” Graham told reporters, explaining why congressional action would be prudent beyond Trump’s unilateral moves. He added that “Trump would be the quarterback.”

Majority Leader John Thune said last week he was ready to advance the long-stalled sanctions package, predicting last week the bill will be brought up within a month. But he struck a more cautious note Thursday.

“As you know, I’ve been interested for some time in getting the sanctions bill up on the floor,” he said. “We’re trying to do … that in concert and coordination with the White House to make sure that we’re giving them the best possible opportunity to succeed in getting Russia to the table.”

Separately, Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called a potential vote on sanctions “a work in progress” Thursday.

Thune and Graham have worked with the White House to smooth over technical issues in the bill, but progress halted last week after Trump spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and announced plans for a summit meeting in Hungary.

Those plans have since collapsed, prompting the Treasury Department to sanction Russia’s two largest oil companies Wednesday. Now, advocates for a tougher line against Putin want the Senate to follow up with the Graham-Blumenthal bill, which has more than 80 cosponsors.

“I think it establishes a trajectory for passing our sanctions bill, and there’s no excuse for delay,” Blumenthal said.

Asked if Trump supports the sanctions bill, Thune said as a “general matter, yes,” but added there were things the White House wants incorporated and that “we’re in conversation with them.”

Graham and Blumenthal floated the possibility that other bills could come to the floor, including measures allowing frozen Russian assets to be repurposed for Ukraine’s use and designating Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. Thune said discussions are underway about votes on those bills.

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, meanwhile, said off the floor Thursday that the Senate should advance “a strong, tough sanctions bill.”

Calen Razor contributed to this report.

More than 100 Republican lawmakers are expected to sign on to a letter pushing back on the Trump administration’s move to eliminate a popular, bipartisan community development finance fund that helps small businesses and home buyers access capital in areas of the country underserved by big banks.

The congressional Republicans are pressing the Trump administration to reverse its decision to fire all employees at the Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, according to the draft letter. The letter is expected to be sent to the administration Thursday.

The bicameral letter, led by Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.), a member of the House Financial Services Committee, and Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), who chairs the Senate’s Community Development Finance Caucus, is addressed to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Office of Management Director Russ Vought. The letter “strongly urge[s] the Administration to continue carrying out the statutory obligations of the CDFI Fund that are essential to ensuring private investments reach our states and districts.”

The large wave of GOP lawmakers that signed the letter signals widespread support among congressional Republicans for a program that the Trump administration has attempted to eviscerate.

The list of signatories obtained by Blue Light News includes 27 Senators and 74 House members. The letter was signed by key Republicans, including Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Reps. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) Mike Flood (R-Neb.), and Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), among others.

The CDFI Fund awards federal dollars to CDFIs, which are community banks, credit unions and other financial institutions, that lend and provide other types of capital as part of a public-private partnership designed to increase the accessibility for communities traditionally underserved by the banking industry.

Speaker Mike Johnson said he won’t bring the House back to vote to pay air traffic controllers and other essential employees, saying the measure “would be spiked in the Senate” anyway — and besides, “it would take the pressure off [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer to get his job done and open the government again.”

Johnson made the comments Thursday at a press conference with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who noted that the government shutdown is leaving already overworked air traffic controllers without pay, many of them forced to pick up second jobs to pay the bills.

“Next Tuesday is the first paycheck that they will not receive,” Duffy said of the air traffic controllers, warning that more flights would be canceled or delayed if that is necessary to keep the skies safe as the shutdown drags on.

Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has introduced a bill that would fund air traffic controllers. But Johnson, pressed by reporters about passing such a standalone bill in the House, noted that House Republicans have already approved a “clean” stopgap funding bill a month ago — which includes funding for air traffic controllers and TSA agents’ salaries. And, the speaker argued, even if he brought the House back to pay essential federal workers, Senate Democrats would block it.

“So it would be a waste of our time,” Johnson added.

A spokesperson for Schumer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump administration officials at the White House and the Transportation Department have been exploring ways to shift funding within the executive branch to pay air traffic controllers, but it’s a huge feat and would cost more than $500 million per month to pull off.

“I don’t know where we’re going to get it,” House Transportation Chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.) said in an interview. “It’s going to be really tough to find it.”

Johnson said White House officials “are running out of creative ideas, and there is not an existing pot of money that could cover the air traffic controller’s salaries right now. And so that is why we have to get the government reopened.”

Safety could become an issue as the shutdown stretches longer, Graves said.

“It’s not right now, but that’s a good question. I mean, it could eventually become one — a safety issue. If air traffic controllers don’t get paid, then they’re going to be frustrated because they have obligations as well,” Graves said. “This just needs to end. That’s just all there is to it.”