Jeffries said the legislation had so many loopholes that sanctions harming Russia might not be applied Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said the Russia sanctions bill had “so many loopholes” as Congress passed the sweeping bill to give Donald Trump the power to raise tariffs on top buyers of Russian energy. Why in the world would this Congress give this president additional authority to visit that kind of economic harm on the American people? Donald Trump responded to the Federal Reserve’s unanimous decision on Wednesday to raise its benchmark interest rate by a quarter-percentage point, to a range of 3.75% to 4%, by demanding a massive cut in rates. Asked why it is so important to him to have his name inscribed on the Kennedy Center,