On The Money — Russia trade bill hits roadblock in Senate

Today’s Big Deal: Find out why one GOP senator is holding up a bill to end normal trade relations with Russia. We’ll also look at ways sanctions are hurting the Russian economy and massive amounts of stimulus check fraud. 

For The Hill, we’re Sylvan Lane, Aris Folley and Karl Evers-Hillstrom. Reach us at slane@digital-release.thehill.com, afolley@digital-release.thehill.com and kevers@digital-release.thehill.com.

Let’s get to it. 

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) tried to quickly pass the House legislation, which cleared that chamber last week in a 424-8 vote, arguing that it would be a symbolic show of unity while President Biden is traveling to meet with European allies in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  

But Sen. Mike Crapo (Idaho), the top Republican on the Finance Committee, blocked Schumer’s request, which he was widely expected to do.  

Why? Crapo had previously warned that he would block quick passage of the House bill if it didn’t include language to cement a ban on Russian energy imports imposed by President Biden via executive order. Many House Republicans also wanted the ban to be included in the bill, though they voted to advance it anyway. 

• The House bill raises tariffs on goods from Russia and Belarus and sets up strict guidelines for when the president can restore normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus based on the state of the war. 
• The Biden administration will additionally be obligated to push for Russia’s removal from the World Trade Organization.
• The bill also reauthorizes and expands the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which sparked some grumbling on the House side of the Capitol. 

The Hill’s Jordain Carney brings us up to speed. 

New SEC climate rule leaves progressives wanting more 

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) took a long-sought step this week by proposing to require that publicly traded companies disclose their direct and indirect climate change contributions, but advocates are pointing to loopholes they say the firms could exploit. 

• While the proposal would require a company to disclose all of its direct emissions, it only required them to disclose indirect emissions — those from its supply chains and the use of its products — when they are “material” to investors.
• Progressives expressed concerns that the rules could leave it up to companies to decide whether to reveal these emissions, which, depending on the industry, can make up a major proportion, or even a vast majority, of their climate contributions.  

The Hill’s Rachel Frazin and Saul Elbein have more here. 

Five ways US sanctions are hurting Russia 

International sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine have touched off what some analysts have characterized as an economic cold war. 

While U.S. officials have been keen to portray their sanctions as devastating foreign policy tools, the bulk of the West’s economic countermeasures remain targeted at wealthy elites and their businesses, which are generally well insulated from the globalized economy. 

The sanctions also are hitting everyday Russians while bringing back memories of the economic hardships in the country’s past. 

• Russia’s gross domestic product could shrink by as much as 7 percent on the year and 35 percent on the quarter, while inflation could reach 14 percent by year’s end, both massive blows to the Russian economy.
• Sanctions have battered Russia’s currency and cut off the nation from advanced technologies needed for products ranging from smartphones to weapons systems. 

The restrictions have also made a cultural impact, bringing back memories of the 1990s, during which the country faced a prolonged depression as its economy was restructured following the collapse of the Soviet Union. 

Sylvan Lane and Tobias Burns have more on the impacts here. 

IRS probe finds nearly $2 billion in coronavirus stimulus-related fraud  

IRS investigators have uncovered more than $1.8 billion in fraudulent activity related to federal COVID-19 stimulus funds, the agency said Wednesday. 

Two years after the Trump administration passed the first trillion-dollar stimulus package, which provided $1,200 checks to individuals and forgivable loans to small businesses as the US economy shut down, the IRS said it has closed 660 criminal cases related to various stimulus bills prompted by the pandemic. 

Many of these are wire fraud cases in which people made false claims about their business or financial situation in order to obtain money from the government.  

• One case involved the CEO of a nonfunctioning nonprofit who received $300,000 from the program by lying about employing 25 workers.
• Another case involved a married couple who used made-up and stolen identities to submit more than 150 fraudulent loan applications. 

Tobias has more here.