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A pair of Democratic leaders say House Republicans are stonewalling a bill imposing new sanctions on Russia and Iran that easily passed the Senate over President Trump's objection.

"Responding to Russia's assault on our democracy should be a bipartisan issue that unites both Democrats and Republicans in the House and the Senate," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday. "The House Republicans need to pass this bill as quickly as possible."

Ninety-seven senators voted in favor of the legislation, which seemed to set it up for speedy passage through the House if GOP leadership chose to take it up. Instead, the sanctions bill reportedly has been flagged with a "blue slip" in the House for violating a constitutional requirement that all legislation which raises revenue for the government has to be passed by the House first and only then sent to the Senate; revenue-raising bills cannot be passed in the Senate and sent to the House.

"The committee is reviewing the bill," a House Foreign Affairs Committee aide told the Washington Examiner. Another Republican staffer told the Washington Post, which first reported on the delay, that lawmakers are working to resolve the constitutional issues "as quickly as we can."

Democrats cast doubt on that explanation. "This is nothing but a delay tactic and the public shouldn't be fooled by complex-sounding parliamentary procedure," New York Rep. Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "If Republican leadership says we can't act on the Senate bill, here's an easy solution: Let's introduce an identical House version and we can vote on that instead."

Trump's team doesn't want an identical bill to pass the House. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson signaled his opposition to the bill as written during a round of hearings on the State Department budget. The senators who wrote the bill designed it so that Trump would have far less authority than most presidents over the decision to impose or lift the sanctions. Tillerson asked for more flexibility.

"I would urge Congress to ensure any legislation allows the president to have the flexibility to adjust sanctions to meet the needs of what is always an evolving diplomatic situation," Tillerson told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "Essentially, we would ask for the flexibility to turn the heat up when we need to, but also to ensure that we have the ability to maintain a constructive dialogue."

Democrats argued that the "blue slip" hold-up is just an attempt to buy time for a revision of the House bill. "I predict this isn't the last excuse we'll hear for trying to slow this bill's momentum, but make no mistake, anything short of an up-or-down vote on this tough sanctions package is an attempt to let Russia off the hook," Engel said.

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Democrats accuse House leaders of slow-walking Russia sanctions - Washington Examiner