Mike Rogers says he would have voted for Russia sanctions bill
Michigan Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers said Sunday that he would have voted for the Russia sanctions bill that President Donald Trump has waived. He said on CNN that he doubts the waiver will lower diesel prices. Some Republican senators have also criticized the move.
Michigan Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers said Sunday that he would have voted for the Russia sanctions bill that President Donald Trump waived on Friday, CNN and the New York Post reported. Rogers spoke on CNN's "State of the Union."
"I would have voted for the sanctions bill. If the president has a better idea to get diesel prices down, I'd be for it," Rogers said, according to a CNN transcript. "I'm just a little skeptical that this will work in the way that the administration wants it to work."
Rogers said Michigan is "paying a pretty heavy price" from high diesel prices and said it was time to "wrap up" the conflict with Iran, CNN and the Post reported.
Trump on Friday waived sanctions and duties under the Graham Act, a measure the Senate passed this summer to punish Russia and countries that buy its oil and gas, the Post reported. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on CNN that the waiver covers only diesel exports and that the main sanctions on Russian oil remain in place.
Rogers said he has called for a temporary ban on US diesel exports and a rebate for diesel used on farms, CNN and the Post reported. "I do worry about the optics of it, but I understand what his motives are," Rogers said of Trump's decision, according to the CNN transcript. He said September and October are Michigan's biggest harvest months.
Rogers pushed back on the idea that Trump is siding with Russia, saying the president is trying to lower prices while dealing with Iran, the Post reported.
Some Republicans in Congress also criticized the waiver, the Post reported. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who is not seeking reelection, wrote on X: "What part of enforcing a law passed 86-11 by the Senate does the President and his advisors not understand?"
Rogers faces Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in one of the closest Senate races in the country. Trump won Michigan in 2016 and 2024, the Post reported.
What we know: Rogers said he would have voted for the sanctions bill and doubts the waiver will work.
What we don't: Whether the waiver will lower diesel prices.
Where outlets agree CNN and the New York Post both report that Rogers said he would have voted for the sanctions bill, that he is "a little skeptical" the waiver will work and that he wants a temporary ban on US diesel exports.
Where they differ The cited reports agree on the key facts so far.