Congress pressuring White House over Russian oil

President Joe Biden is coming under increasing pressure from Capitol Hill to ban importation of Russian oil. Many Republicans and a growing number of Democrats in the House and Senate have endorsed banning Russian crude to put more pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the shelling of Ukraine.

On Monday, a bipartisan group of committee chairmen reached agreement on legislation to ban Russian oil imports and suspend normal trade relations status with Russia and its ally, Belarus — the latter move could lead to steep tariffs on other goods from the two countries. After a closed-door background briefing on Ukraine, a bipartisan group of senators publicly supported a Russian oil ban. Prices at the pump were rising long before Russia invaded Ukraine and have spiraled faster since the start of the war.