Republican Mike Crapeau, head of the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, has blocked a bill on sanctions against Russia.

According to him, the mechanisms provided for in this document "are directed not so much against Russia and those who can harm our country and the election process, but against the Trump administration and Republicans."

We are talking about the bill "Defending Elections from Threats by Establishing Redlines Act - DETER". It was first introduced to Congress last year by Senators Chris Van Hollen (Democratic Party) and Marco Rubio (Republican Party).

As Van Hollen explained, the bill "is designed to make it very clear and clear to Russia or any other country that plans to interfere in our elections and undermine our democracy: if we catch you on this, you will have to endure a severe punishment."

According to the bill, 30 days after any federal election, Congress should be presented with the opinion of the Director of National Intelligence on whether there was a foreign interference in the voting process and the election campaign. For example, if Russia’s intervention is declared in the conclusion, the President of the United States must impose sanctions on a number of Russian companies, government agencies, and individuals within ten days.

“When we stop trying to turn this bill into anti-Trump and anti-republic and form a political agenda based on the problems that Russia really creates for us, we may be able to pass another effective legislative act for further progress,” said Crapeau.

He compared sanctions with a "double-edged sword".

Thus, after a negative review of the profile committee of the congress, the consideration of the bill was suspended.

In turn, Chris Van Hollen harshly criticized the statement of Crape.

“I’m tired that the leaders of the Republican Party are blocking the adoption of a bill aimed at protecting our elections,” he wrote on his Twitter.

I've had enough of Republican leadership blocking legislation to protect our elections and spinning Putin's talking points. That's why I'm on the floor with @SenSchumer to demand the passage of the bipartisan DETER Act. We can't afford to wait any longer. https://t.co/dGif3Rhzr6

- Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) December 10, 2019

"Bad habit"

However, experts do not believe that the blocking of one bill indicates any fundamental changes in the course of Washington. As American political scientist Mikhail Sinelnikov-Orishak noted in an interview with RT, any initiative at the level of individual senators cannot somehow change the general line of the United States with regard to Russia.

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“Foreign policy is the prerogative of the executive in the United States. The senator ex officio does not directly influence the State Department. Therefore, it would be incorrect to consider the initiative of Craypo as a transformation of the US policy towards Russia, ”Sinelnikov-Orishak is sure.

A political point of view is shared by political scientist Dmitry Drobnitsky.

“All this is another episode of a long struggle for budgetary allocations and distribution of funds,” Drobnitsky explained in an interview with RT.

He recalled that sanctions against Russia are being introduced as part of the US military budget. Consequently, any new restrictions may affect the total amount of the appropriations for defense needs, says Dmitry Drobnitsky, and in these conditions, the heads of the committees are trying to limit the initiative of individual congressmen.

“American lawmakers have a bad habit: respond to sanctions with everything. This is a long-standing illness of the American Congress. People are busy with their internal political affairs; they are not very versed in what is happening outside the country. Therefore, they answer any foreign policy challenge simply: but let's forbid anyone to anything. There is no idea of ​​what sanctions are, how they affect the economy and politics, and what their introduction as a result of comes back to the US itself, ”explains Drobnitsky.

In his opinion, the struggle that unfolded in the United States around the issue of new sanctions against Russia is also a struggle for or against Trump. The political scientist draws attention to the fact that although the DETER bill was prepared by representatives of both parties, Marco Rubio is one of the president’s long-standing opponents.

Opposing this initiative, Craypo acts as a Republican and supporter of the president, says Drobnitsky.

“Now there is a serious struggle between Trump and his opponents. Democrats are trying to limit the president’s ability to influence foreign policy. Republicans, respectively, quite jointly defend this right. Van Hollen’s bill was perceived by Crape primarily as an attempt to encroach on the powers of the head of state, ”the expert said.

Anti-Russian wave

According to Dmitry Drobnitsky, a genuine rejection of confrontational actions in relations between the United States and Russia is possible only when the American business elite has an interest in establishing contacts with Moscow.

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  • © Tom Brenner / Reuters

“If we compare the business elite of America and Europe, then Europeans, of course, have more reasons to soften the sanctions regime. For them, normal economic relations with Russia are real money. And the trade turnover between Russia and the USA is $ 27 billion. Of course, this is a drop in the ocean in the context of the volumes of the national economies of the USA and the Russian Federation. Therefore, the American business elite, unlike the European one, does not exert pressure on politicians in favor of normalizing relations with Moscow, ”says Drobnitsky.

However, according to Mikhail Sinelnikov-Orishak, part of the American elite still has some interest in reducing the degree of confrontation with Russia. He recalled that Trump from time to time also speaks out for establishing relations with Moscow.

At the same time, the expert regards Trump's rhetoric rather as a proposal for a deal: Russia should abandon part of its national interests in exchange for rapprochement with Washington.

“However, the American establishment is now basically opposed to the Russian Federation. And in this case, there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans. Therefore, Craypo’s actions can in no way be interpreted as the decision of the Republicans to take up pro-Russian positions. Recall that the best relations between our country and the USA were just under the presidents-democrats: Roosevelt and Clinton, ”summed up Sinelnikov-Orishak.