Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) was one of a handful of Republican senators to break with his party and support the Democratic-led disapproval motion. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo Congress Fractured Senate GOP opens debate on blocking Trump sanctions

Eleven Senate Republicans joined Democrats on Tuesday to on a measure intended to stop the Treasury Department from easing sanctions on an oligarch close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The 57-42 vote, following a GOP lunch briefing by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, put a squeeze on Republicans torn between support for the Trump administration and concerns about going soft on Russia, in this case companies linked to Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska.


"This is a hard vote," said Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, who opposed the measure. "This is not a black-and-white vote."

Republican senators who voted to open debate on the resolution of disapproval drafted by Democrats included Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Marco Rubio of Florida and Susan Collins of Maine.

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The Senate planned to hold another procedural vote Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. It will have a higher, 60-vote threshold.

“We’re only two Republican votes short of the U.S. Senate telling Putin he can’t run the show no matter what President Trump and his administration try to do," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said.

At issue are plans by Treasury to relax sanctions on Russian companies Rusal, EN+ and EuroSibEnergo, which had been targeted because of their ties to Deripaska. The firms produce aluminum and electricity. A congressional review period for lawmakers to intervene in the decision expires this week.

Mnuchin has said Treasury should ease up on the companies because they agreed to sever Deripaska's control — proof that the sanctions had the desired effect, he said. He has promised that the administration will keep pressure on Deripaska.

"Sanctions are designed to change behavior," Senate Banking Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) said. "What this has accomplished is that."

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Jim Risch (R-Idaho) accused Democrats of pulling a political stunt.

"This thing is nothing but something to embarrass the president," he said.

Senate Democrats argued that the Trump administration should stand firm against Russian aggression and that lifting sanctions sent the wrong message.

Democrats were unified in supporting the measure, though some privately questioned the wisdom of second-guessing career Treasury officials and cranking up partisan conflict in an area where there has otherwise been bipartisan cooperation.

Schumer, who instigated the vote, justified the move by pointing to Deripaska's ties to Putin and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, a target in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into election interference by Russia.

"It is deeply suspect that the Trump administration would propose sanctions relief for Deripaska’s companies before the special counsel finished his work," Schumer said. "We should not allow any sanctions relief for President Putin’s trusted agents or the companies they control before the conclusion of the investigation."

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer introduced his own disapproval resolution on Tuesday, saying in a statement that Deripaska had been "key to much of the malign activities Russia directs against the United States."

It's unclear when the House will vote on the measure.