President Donald Trump signed the Russia sanctions bill on Wednesday.
Trump released a signing statement explaining his concerns over the bill, which he believes "encroaches on presidential authority and may hurt U.S. ability to work with allies," according to Bloomberg:
Trump's concerns cover four areas: encroachment on executive authority, unintentional harm to U.S. companies and business, as well as U.S. international partners, and limits on the flexibility of the administration to act in concert with allies in dealing with Russia.
ABC News tweeted out Trump's statement that called the bill "significantly flawed."
JUST IN: Pres. Trump issues signing statement calling Russia sanctions bill "significantly flawed." https://t.co/zkcYjFzoF3 pic.twitter.com/aYfNBbnm5b
— ABC News (@ABC) August 2, 2017
The bill was passed with a vote of 419-3 in the House, and 98-2 in the Senate, making it likely that a veto from Trump would have been overturned.
The bill places sanctions on Russia, Iran, and North Korea, and gives Congress the power of blocking the president from lifting them. Experts say that the goal of the Russia sanctions is to make it more difficult for Russia to export weapons, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The bill will also prevent Trump from lifting Obama administration-era sanctions on Russia, which were responding to the Russian government's aggression in Ukraine and meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. If Trump intended to cut down on Russia sanctions, he would need approval from Congress.
The bill was originally created to target Iran and North Korea's ability and efforts to drop missiles, but Russia was added in later.