Lawmakers say Trump's diesel deal with Russia 'violates' the law, legal experts say

US President Donald Trump faces growing backlash over his plan to import diesel from Russia, with some Republican and Democratic lawmakers insisting the controversial deal directly conflicts with an existing law.

US President Donald Trump is facing growing backlash over his plan to import diesel from Russia, with some Republican and Democratic lawmakers insisting the controversial deal is a "violation" of the law.

Four years ago, Congress passed the End Russian Oil Imports Act, which bans imports of US-origin Russian energy products covered by Chapter 27 of the Harmonized Tariff Program, including diesel. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Democrat of Texas, the main sponsor of the bill, argued Monday that Trump would "directly violate the law by lifting sanctions to allow the first Russian diesel imports into the United States since the law took effect, without meeting specific statutory requirements."

He suggested that the lack of congressional oversight of Trump's deal with Putin made it illegal, noting how the plan represented a sharp U-turn by Washington, coming just weeks after Trump signed a sweeping Russia sanctions bill targeting the country's financial institutions and energy industry, which largely financed the invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions bill was named after Lindsey Graham, the late Republican senator who spent the last year of his life championing the measure.

"After Trump violated federal law, Russia can [now] export fossil fuels to the United States," Doggett said in a statement to Time on Tuesday. While providing little benefit to the Americans, this illegal action offers new ways to fund Putin's war machine to continue killing Ukrainian civilians.

Doggett's concerns echo those of Republican Sen. Tom Tillis of North Carolina, who told NBC's Meet the Press over the weekend that he believes "there's a legitimate case for saying the president is not following the law."

Tillis was one of seven senators who publicly called on the administration on Sunday to "immediately reverse course" on the deal announced Friday, arguing that it runs afoul of the 2022 Act.

In a statement signed by Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Tom Tillis of North Carolina, and John Curtis of Utah, the New Democratic Sens. prevent Putin's brutality against Ukraine. Oregon and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.

"President Trump's decision to allow the import of Russian diesel into the United States is in direct violation of this law. "The administration has also failed to consult with Congress or provide any explanation to justify its decision in accordance with the law."

In a letter sent to Trump on Tuesday, Tillis, Collins and Murkowski, Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, John Cornyn of Texas and Alan Armstrong of Oklahoma, joined the president along with six Democratic senators in telling the president that the deal is "a gift to our enemy and a betrayal of our allies. It must be rescinded." The letter came a day after Trump publicly dismissed criticism from within his own party.

"Well, I think these are Republicans who really can't be serious," he told reporters at the White House. "Anything that can help our farmers, our ranchers, I like it."

Trump's agreement to supply "immediately" 300,000 tons of diesel to the US and global markets comes as he faces mounting political pressure ahead of the November midterm elections. Rising energy costs have become a major concern among voters, threatening Republicans' efforts to maintain their majority in Congress. The financial developments mean Trump is at risk of losing his hold on farm country. However, experts doubt that the Russian fuel influx will provide relief to the struggling Americans, given the short supply due to the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.

While some lawmakers also predict that the impact on American consumers will be minimal, the main focus for many is whether Trump's diesel deal with Putin violates the 2022 Act, with some Republicans and Democrats insisting that Trump is violating limits on presidential authority. Here's what you need to know about the debate — and where legal experts stand on the issue.

According to the 2022 law, what should happen to lift the Russian diesel import ban?

While presidents typically have broad powers to lift sanctions, Congress set specific limits on that power in the April 2022 law, said Kristen Eichenser, a law professor at Harvard Law School.

"In many sanctions authorities, the president has broad powers to waive sanctions or issue authorizations that essentially create an exception to sanctions," he told TIME. "The [2022] law is an unusual piece of legislation, given how precise and specific Congress was in providing that the president lacked this flexibility."

According to paragraph 3 of the law, the president must first consult with the House of Representatives' Ways and Means and Foreign Affairs Committees, along with the Senate's Finance and Foreign Relations Committees, and submit a report at least 45 days before presenting the required certificate.

Lawmakers have argued that the government has failed to follow suit.

Referring to the specific criteria set in the text of the law, Aychenshahr says: "The president must present a certificate to Congress before canceling this ban."

This law requires the President to declare to Congress that the Russian Federation has withdrawn and ceased hostilities with Ukraine. It poses no immediate threat to any NATO member. and recognizes the right of the Ukrainian people to freely and independently choose their own government.

But Aikenshahr stresses that these are "not certifications that the president can issue right now" because "none of these things have happened, and that's the main limitation in the law."

Even if all of these conditions were met, the law would still require the president to wait another 90 days for the import ban to end, during which time Congress could issue a joint resolution of disapproval.

"Essentially, the president can't issue warrants as a matter of fact because Russia is still invading Ukraine," Eichenshahr said. As a procedural matter, [because he reportedly did not consult with Congress], he did not follow the process prescribed by law."

Edward Swain, a research professor at the George Washington University School of Law, suggests that the restrictions were put in place to ensure that "when the president and the treasury secretary decide that circumstances have changed, they can go back and explain that to Congress and let them know so they can object."

"The president is going to make the decision that Russia will pull out and not pose any further threats of aggression," he told TIME. These are fairly high standards.

"They don't want the president to be able to change this regime on a whim, and so I imagine Congress will look at that and rightfully think it's inconsistent," he adds.

The Treasury says that the diesel deal is done within the framework of legal authorities

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant defended the legality of the deal and emphasized that the Trump administration was acting within its existing legal authority to help lower energy prices.

On Friday, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a temporary general authorization allowing transactions involving Russian diesel fuel, including imports, until April 7, 2027.

Swain says the government could argue that "a general license [is] not a termination of the statutory ban, but a suspension."

"The Treasury Secretary could say that this is not an end to the import ban, but just suspending it until April," says Swain. "The second thing [the government] can say is that it doesn't apply to all affected products, it's just a subset of diesel fuel, so there's a difference between what the president needs to do to end the entire program and what the secretary is doing here [potentially]."

In response to allegations on social media that Bessant and the White House broke the law, the Office of the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, part of the Treasury Department, insisted that the administration had followed established procedures.

"The granting of this general authorization is consistent with similar actions previously taken by OFAC and complies with all applicable laws," the office said over the weekend.

OFAC tracked down transactions of Russian oil and petroleum products that had previously been loaded on ships, including those already under US sanctions, bound for Indian ports in March. The bureau also allowed the entry of certain diamonds in August that were outside Russia before the cut-off date was set under the previous executive order.

Ambassador Arjan has contacted the White House and the Ministry of Treasury to comment.

How Congress can challenge Trump's deal with diesel

Lawmakers can pursue congressional oversight and other political actions to challenge the administration's decision.

Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania had previously announced plans to introduce "bipartisan legislation to block Russian oil purchases" under Ronald Reagan's proposed Peace Through Power Act. Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, a Republican who has clashed with Trump on other major issues, said he agreed to co-sponsor the bill because "Congress needs to take a stand."

However, what Congress is able to do may be more symbolic than anything that could move the needle, experts told TIME.

"There is a limited ability of Congress to do much other than pass laws and implement them politically," says Swain.