The US House of Representatives on Wednesday night voted to repeal the so-called Caesar Act sanctions on Syria, with the proposal included in the National Defence Authorisation Act for Fiscal Year 2026.
The Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, signed into law in 2019, is aimed at members of the regime of former president Bashar Al Assad who were accused of war crimes and human rights abuses.
The House of Representatives passed the bipartisan legislation with a vote of 312 to 112. The bill will now go to the Senate, and if passed, will then head to President Donald Trump's desk to be signed into law.
The repeal of the sanctions mandates a review of the situation in Syria every 180 days over the course of four years to ensure that Damascus is taking appropriate action in areas including combating ISIS, removing foreign fighters from government roles, and upholding religious and ethnic minority rights, among others.
If the US government finds that the Syrian government is off track in these goals, the bill stipulates that it can impose sanctions on individuals until Damascus adjusts course.
Hayat Tahrir Al Sham toppled the Assad regime in December last year, ending decades of oppressive rule. Relations between the US and Syria have been warming since then, and Damascus has been working to secure sanctions relief from Washington and other governments around the world.
During his trip to the Gulf in May, Mr Donald Trump announced that Washington would remove Assad-era sanctions on the country.
In August, the US Treasury Department announced it was removing Syria from its sanctions list. And in June, members of Congress introduced legislation a month later aimed at repealing the Caesar Act.
When Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara's visited Washington last month, the Treasury Department and the Department of Commerce said Caesar Act sanctions would be removed for a period of 180 days, with exceptions of sanctionable transactions with Russia and Iran. The waiver renewed a May 23 pause.
Among the bill's other provisions impacting the Middle East was a stipulation that aid to the Lebanese military could become contingent on progress in disarming Hezbollah.
The massive bill, running to more than 3,000 pages, also included continued US security guarantees for Israel and measures designed to counter Iranian threats.
