The US House of Representatives passed the Bill HR 6930, which calls on the US President to sell the frozen assets of sanctioned russian individuals and companies and use the funds to provide additional military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
417 members of Congress voted for the bill, according to The New York Times.
The law is not binding, but its support by a majority in Congress reflects the desire of the two parties on Capitol Hill for the US president to take a more aggressive stance on sanctions, the newspaper said.
This came a day after US Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced at a Senate meeting that the administration would ask Congress to expand its powers to confiscate and sell Russian assets.
"We will support legislation that will allow part of this money to be transferred directly to Ukraine," he said.
U.S. lawmakers have watered down the bill significantly, making it a nonbinding resolution that would call on the administration to convene an interagency working group to determine "constitutional mechanisms by which the president can take steps to seize and confiscate." This was done in response to the American Civil Liberties Union, whose lawyers expressed concern that the law could deprive russians who were targeted by the sanctions of the right to appeal the confiscation. In the future, Russian citizens could win lawsuits and thus gain a "propaganda victory."
On April 28, the White House plans to submit to Congress a proposal for a long-term package of support for Ukraine, which will cover the rest of the current fiscal year, which ends in the United States on September 30.