The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 14-8 on May 18 to advance the Strait of Hormuz Economic Accountability Act, a bipartisan sanctions package targeting Iran’s oil sector and its financial networks in response to the May 14 attack on commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf. The bill now heads to the full Senate floor, where leadership has scheduled debate for later this week.
Committee Chair Senator Elena Vasquez (D-CA) called the vote “a necessary and proportionate signal that the United States will not allow its sailors and its shipping lanes to be held hostage.” The ranking Republican, Senator Thomas Whitmore (TX), co-sponsored the measure and framed it as complementary to the Trump administration’s naval posture in the region. “Diplomacy works best when it is backed by real economic consequence,” Whitmore said during Tuesday’s markup session.
What the Bill Does
The Strait of Hormuz Economic Accountability Act (SHEAA) imposes secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions that process transactions involving Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force or its designated shipping affiliates. It also authorizes the Treasury Department to sanction ports and terminal operators in third countries that provide substantial services to vessels carrying Iranian oil, a provision designed to close existing loopholes in the primary sanctions regime.
The legislation includes a waiver mechanism allowing the President to suspend sanctions on a case-by-case basis if national security interests require continued engagement with a specific entity or country. The waiver provision was added during the May 18 markup at the insistence of bipartisan members concerned about collateral impacts on allied nations in the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Divisions Within the Committee
Not all committee Democrats supported the measure. Senator Maria Reyes (NJ) voted against advancing the bill, arguing that the secondary sanctions mechanism risked alienating key trading partners and driving them further toward Chinese financial infrastructure. “We are writing a bill that will push countries to abandon the dollar-based system entirely, and we need to be honest about what that means for the long-term position of the U.S. dollar,” Reyes said during the markup.
Senator James Okoro (WA), a progressive Democrat, raised separate concerns about the bill’s human rights implications, noting that broad sanctions regimes frequently harm ordinary Iranian civilians rather than the officials who direct military operations. An amendment he offered to add humanitarian exemptions for food and medicine shipments was ruled nongermane by the chair, a ruling Okoro said he would challenge on the Senate floor.
“We are writing a bill that will push countries to abandon the dollar-based system entirely, and we need to be honest about what that means for the long-term position of the U.S. dollar.” — Sen. Maria Reyes (D-NJ)
Industry and Allied Reaction
Major shipping industry groups have pressed for targeted sanctions rather than broad secondary measures, warning that ambiguity in enforcement could disrupt legitimate commerce across the Strait. The International Association of Tank Terminals submitted written testimony to the committee last week urging clearer definitions of what constitutes “substantial services” under the port sanctions provision.
Allied governments have been more directly engaged than usual. The UAE and Saudi Arabia both conveyed formal concerns through diplomatic channels, according to committee staff, though neither country has publicly opposed the bill. The European Union’s foreign policy chief issued a statement saying the bloc “reserves the right to take parallel measures” while stopping short of endorsing the U.S. legislative text.
Path to the Floor
Senate Majority Leader Carla Hammond (D-NY) moved quickly to calendar the measure after Tuesday’s committee vote, a signal that the leadership views the package as electorally useful heading into the midterm cycle. A Senate aide familiar with the scheduling said the floor debate could begin as early as Thursday, with a potential vote Friday if no filibuster materializes.
The White House has not formally endorsed the bill, but multiple sources familiar with the matter say the administration provided informal input on the sanctions designations during committee drafting. A statement of administration policy is expected before the floor debate begins.
The House has not yet introduced a companion measure. Representative David Park (CA), who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told reporters Monday that his committee would move its own version “in the coming weeks” after assessing the Senate bill’s specific designations. House-Senate reconciliation, if both chambers pass versions, could stretch into June — meaning the sanctions, if enacted, would arrive well after whatever immediate diplomatic or military response the administration has already executed in the Gulf.
The full committee markup transcript is available through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s document repository. Amendments offered during the May 18 session will be posted to congress.gov within 24 hours of the proceeding’s adjournment.