The notice comes the day after seven Democratic House chairmen sent Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin a letter asking him "to explain the easing of sanctions on businesses tied to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska." | Evan Vucci, File/AP Photo Congress Mnuchin to brief lawmakers on easing sanctions against Putin ally

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday will provide House lawmakers with a classified briefing on the Trump administration's plan to ease sanctions against three companies controlled by Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, who has close ties to President Vladimir Putin.

The closed-door session will take place at 4 p.m. and could include other administration officials, according to a notice of the meeting obtained by POLITICO. The all-member briefing is one of the earliest tangible oversight acts by House Democrats since the new majority was sworn in last week.


The notice comes the day after seven Democratic House chairmen sent Mnuchin a letter asking him "to explain the easing of sanctions on businesses tied to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska."

“As the chairs of committees with oversight jurisdiction over the U.S. response to Russia’s attempts to interfere in our elections and other hostile actions, we have a number of concerns about the agreement that the U.S. has reached,” the Democrats wrote in the missive and requested a detailed response by Friday.

Last month, the Treasury Department announced its plan to lift sanctions on Rusal, one of the world’s largest aluminum companies, as well as En+ Group, the holding company that owns nearly half of Rusal, and Russian power company EuroSibEnergo.

At the time, Mnuchin said the companies had "committed to significantly diminish Deripaska’s ownership and sever his control.”

The move, unveiled Dec. 19, would take effect 30 days after the announcement, unless congressional lawmakers stop it.

Deripaska himself would remain under U.S. sanctions imposed in April on associates of Putin over Moscow’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Last week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer filed a resolution to potentially disapprove of Treasury's decisions to lift the sanctions on the three Russian firms.