July 30, 2026: The U.S. Senate, in a show of bipartisanship, has voted overwhelmingly to fast-track a bill that would allow U.S. President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on major buyers of oil from Russia and Iran, which would affect countries such as India and China.

The Senate voted 86-12 on Tuesday (July 28, 2026) to invoke the cloture motion to advance the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, hours after they gathered to bid a final farewell to the Senator from South Carolina, who passed away on July 11.

Cloture is a formal procedure of the Senate to set a time limit for the debate and related actions on an issue before it is put to a final vote.

Senators voted on the cloture motion after a meeting with visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was in Washington D.C. for the funeral service of the late Lindsey Graham.

Mr. Zelenskyy was in the Senate gallery, waving and smiling at the Senators as they lined up to cast their votes

(Source: The Hindu)