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Republicans in Congress rendered a vote of no confidence in President Trump's Russia policy on Thursday with passage of legislation to severely limit his ability to cut deals with Vladimir Putin.

The package sanctioning Iran, North Korea and Russia includes language requiring congressional approval to waive penalties on Moscow, a loss of negotiating flexibility for the president, a self-styled deal maker, that his administration furiously tried to kill.

Trump has coddled Putin since entering the presidential race two years ago despite Russia's meddling in the 2016 elections and other actions to undermine U.S. interests, and Republicans don't trust him to crack down on Moscow's belligerence.

"We do think there was interference in the elections, we do take that seriously we don't have much doubt about it and probably the Russian government needs to understand, on this issue, they're dealing with Congress as much as they're dealing with the president," Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said.

The bill cleared Congress in overwhelming bipartisan fashion, passing in the House 419-3 and in the Senate 98-2 both veto-proof majorities. White House officials say Trump hasn't decided if he will sign the legislation or risk the indignation of seeing his veto overridden.

The package sanctions North Korea over its nuclear weapons program and Iran for its ballistic missile program and sponsorship of terrorism. But it's the tough measures on Russia, preventing Trump (or future presidents) from relaxing sanctions absent Congressional approval, that stand out.

Foreign policy analysts and individuals who served in past administrations say that it is highly unusual for Congress to hamstring a president's ability to conduct foreign policy. The trend over the past 25 years or so has been to show deference on these matters to the executive.

"It's unusual. The last time Congress overrode a presidential veto in a major foreign policy issue was Ronald Reagan in 1986 on South African sanctions," said Aaron David Miller, a scholar at the Wilson Center who has advised secretaries of state of both parties.

Congress' move to reassert its influence over foreign policy is the result of an atypical confluence of events.

Democrats supported the dtente with Russia pursued by former President Barack Obama, transforming into born-again hawks after Moscow meddled in the 2016 campaign to boost Trump. Putin viewed the Republican as a fellow nationalist less inclined to oppose Russia internationally.

Since Reagan, at least, Republicans have been defined in part by their hardline suspicion of Russia. They have accommodated Trump's unorthodox populism on issues like trade, but resisted his effort to soften the GOP policy on Russia.

That culminated with Thursday's vote that sent the sanctions package to the president's desk, as multiple investigations into Russian meddling in 2016 that could implicate Trump or his campaign continue in Congress and by Robert Mueller, the federal special counsel.

Some Republicans were careful about how they discussed that vote, not wanting to finger Trump as the motivating factor behind the legislation. But it was clear that their lack of trust in Trump to confront Putin and negotiate agreements favorable to the U.S. played a role.

"President Trump is the fourth president that I have served with," Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said. "They all at various times thought that they could work with Russians, and Putin has had an ability to sort of extract concessions and then never live up to his bargain."

Trump has courted Putin assiduously and declined to subject the authoritarian Russian regime to the bombastic jawboning he's directed at other U.S. adversaries like China and Iran, not to mention allies like South Korea and the countries in NATO.

His approach to Russia in particular is consistent with his recent predecessors: Obama and Bill Clinton, both Democrats, and George W. Bush, a Republican. All thought they could charm Putin and turn him into an ally of the West.

Instead, the strongman pocketed favorable agreements while continuing subversive activities to counter American influence and priorities. Trump's bilateral meeting with Putin this month in Germany did little to convince critics in Congress that Trump has changed his thinking.

Congressional Republicans, seeking to tamp down on suggestions that they're trying to box Trump in, blamed their vote for the sanctions legislation on Obama. Trump's predecessor launched a "Russian reset" in a bid to forge more cooperation with Moscow.

Putin responded over Obama's two terms by helping Iran develop a nuclear energy program, establishing a military presence in Syria and rescuing Bashar Assad's regime, invading Ukraine and saber rattling NATO countries on its western flank.

Obama ignored GOP demands that he confront the Kremlin, and Republicans said they wanted to claim more power to keep the heat on Putin, even if that means defying a commander in chief of their own party in the short term, to prevent a similar situation from unfolding in the future.

"We had a very, very bad experience with the last chief executive," Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, said. "We just want to ensure that whoever is president, we don't have to go through that again."

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Republicans render vote of no confidence in Trump's Russia policy - Washington Examiner