At first, the White House resisted calls from Congress to ban Russian oil imports to the U.S. And then, it did just that.
The administration hit the brakes on legislation that would have revoked Russia’s normal trade status, until President Joe Biden announced the move Friday. The administration persuaded senators to hold off on imposing Russian sanctions, then slapped stiff sanctions itself. It rejected efforts in Congress to stop the Nord Stream 2 energy pipeline, then led allies in halting it.
“We’ve seen that with this president time and time and time again, where he says, ‘We can’t do this,'" said Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, a combat veteran. “Then he reverses course.” The steady drumbeat from Congress in recent weeks can be viewed as both a criticism of the White House response, but also an approving nod signaling to the Biden administration how far lawmakers are willing to go to support Ukraine.
“Unity among our allies is critically important, as you all know, from my perspective, at least,” Biden said Friday.