WASHINGTON _ The Trump administration belatedly has taken the first steps toward imposing new sanctions on Russian officials to punish Moscow for interfering in the 2016 election.
In early August, after considerable delay, Trump signed into law a measure that required the new sanctions, which target individuals with ties to Russian defense and intelligence agencies. Under the law, companies that do business with those individuals could be subject to U.S. sanctions.
The law gave the administration until Oct. 1 to produce a list. After the administration missed that deadline, members of Congress and others have stepped up criticism of Trump on the issue. Late Thursday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson authorized officials to release the list to key members of Congress.
The names haven't been made public yet, but that's expected to happen in coming days. The idea is to give companies time to unwind any connections they may have with the named individuals before the new sanctions take effect in late January.
In a joint statement, Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Ben Cardin, D-Md., who have been among the leaders in Congress on the sanctions issue, praised the administration for taking a first step, but warned that recent cutbacks at the State Department could hamper the sanctions.
The State Department needs to "dedicate robust staffing and resources to the implementation effort," they said, noting that Tillerson has downgraded the department's sanctions office and "a number of its staff have resigned."
