US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday teed up a final vote as soon as this week on a bipartisan Iran sanctions bill that is also set to include a bipartisan agreement to boost penalties against the Russian government and make it more difficult for President Donald Trump to lift them. McConnell moved to wind down debate on the Iran sanctions bill, which counts 58 cosponsors in both parties, with a key procedural vote expected Thursday, Politico reported. The first step in the legislation’s path to passage was to come Wednesday, when senators were expected to clear a bipartisan agreement that boosts sanctions against Moscow and requires Trump to seek congressional approval of any future decision to ease or eliminate punitive measures against Russia. “This is one of those areas, in a very tumultuous political climate here in the senate, where we are able to find strong, united agreement that we need to move forward,” Banking Chairman Mike Crapo, a lead negotiator on the Russia sanctions deal, told reporters Tuesday.
