House to vote on Ukraine aid, take up measure to ban Russian energy imports: Pelosi
In a new letter to House Democrats, Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated plans to approve new aid for Ukraine in a government funding measure this week.
She also said new legislation to ban the import of Russian oil and energy products would repeal normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus and deny Russia access to the World Trade Organization.
The measure would also give the administration more power to raise tariffs on Russian imports.
Pelosi said Congress and the Biden administration “remain laser-focused on bringing down the higher energy costs for American families and our partners,” noting that 60 million barrels of oil have been released from strategic reserves and allies have said they will reduce their dependence on Russian energy.
“With the West’s carefully coordinated effort to sequence sanctions on Russia and mitigate for the costs of these efforts, we are standing up for our values abroad while protecting our families at home,” Pelosi wrote in the letter.
It’s not clear when the House will take up this measure, but Congress needs to approve government funding -- which will include the Ukraine aid -- by Friday.
-ABC News’ Ben Siegel