Politics

(WASHINGTON) – As the standoff between Russia and the United States continues, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan warned of a “very distinct” possibility Russia will attack Ukraine at “any time now.”

“We believe that there is a very distinct possibility that Vladimir Putin will order an attack on Ukraine. It could take a number of different forms. It could happen as soon as tomorrow or it could take some weeks yet,” Sullivan said in an interview with ABC “This Week” Co-Anchor Martha Raddatz on Sunday.

“[Putin] has put himself in a position with military deployments, to be able to act aggressively against Ukraine at any time now,” he added, stressing that the United State is working with allies and continues to urge a path of diplomacy.

Sullivan said the United States is ready to respond, no matter what Russia decides.

“If they choose to go down the path of escalation instead, it will come at enormous human cost to Ukrainians. But it will also, we believe, over time, come at real strategic cost to Vladimir Putin,” he said.

ABC News has learned Putin now has 70% of his troops in place to possibly launch a full-scale attack on Ukraine. The report comes as U.S. troops began arriving in Poland over the weekend after President Joe Biden ordered deployments to reassure NATO allies.

Raddatz pressed Sullivan on the message U.S. troop deployments sends to the Russians as the U.S. continues to push for a diplomatic solution: “You talk about this diplomatic path, but 1,700 US troops just arrived in Poland, part of the 3,000 going in. Three hundred more sent to Germany. … (It) sounds like you’re no longer trying to de-escalate the situation.”

“We have since the beginning for months now, as we have warned about the possibility of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, pursued a two-track approach, deterrence and diplomacy,” he argued.

“Those forces you just referred to have not been sent to fight Russian forces in Ukraine. They have been sent to defend NATO territory because we have a sacred obligation under Article 5 to defend our NATO allies and to send a clear message to Russia, that if it tries to take any military action or aggression against our NATO allies, it will be met with a stiff response, including by the U.S. forces who are on the ground there now,” Sullivan said, adding the U.S. has been “equally clear” it is ready to have “substantive discussions on matters of European security” with Russia.

Sullivan would not get into specifics on how certain an attack is, even though Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., reportedly said after a briefing on the situation that a Russian invasion was a “near certainty.”

“I’m not going to make a prediction about what is going to unfold in the coming days. All I’m going to say is that we, the United States, under the direction of President Biden, are ready either way,” Sullivan said when pressed by Raddatz.

“We are ready,” he said, adding, “And we are ready to respond in a united, swift and severe way with our allies and partners should he choose to move forward with a military escalation.”

As the window for diplomacy appears to be rapidly closing, U.S. officials have repeatedly said they do not believe Putin has made up his mind on how to proceed but no longer describe the threat of a possible invasion as “imminent,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday.

With athletes from around the world gathering to compete in the Winter Olympics in China, Raddatz asked Sullivan if the U.S. believed Putin would hold off on an attack until the games conclude on Feb. 20 — allowing more time for the ground to freeze to facilitate tank movements.

Sullivan said it was possible but stressed that an attack could also come sooner.

“At this point, we’re in the window, meaning that we can’t just assume it’s going to be a couple of weeks off. Is that a possible scenario? Are there reasons to believe that it could happen in that timeframe? Yes. But there are also reasons to believe that Russia, under the direction of President Putin, could take steps before then.”

Sullivan appeared to brush off concerns over China’s alliance with Russia and the impact it could have on the U.S. threat of sanctions after Putin and President Xi Jinping met in Beijing Friday.

“That is an economic power powerhouse, China. Could that undermine your plans for severe sanctions?” Raddatz asked.

“Our view is that China is not in a position to compensate Russia for the economic losses that would come from our sanctions. That’s the analysis that we and the European share, and we believe the Russians and Chinese understand that as well,” Sullivan responded, adding that China would also feel the cost in the “eyes of the world” of supporting Russia.

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(WASHINGTON) — A new bill proposed this week would develop a federal alert system for active shooter situations, which have increased by over 1200% between 2000 and 2020.

The FBI defines an active shooter as “an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area.” Though they account for a small percentage of gun deaths, 333 active shooter incidents in the United States resulted in 2,851 deaths between 2000 and 2019, according to an FBI report released last year.

On Tuesday alone, there were active shooter incidents at Bridgewater College in Virginia, where two officers were killed, and at South Education Center in Minnesota, where one student was killed and another was left in critical condition.

A bill proposed in the House the same day would help sound the alarm when such incidents occur so that people nearby an active shooter incident would be sent up-to-date information on their phones.

Reps. David Cicilline, D-R.I., and Fred Upton, R-Mich., proposed the bill, which aims to improve law enforcement officers’ ability to quickly disseminate information during active shooter situations. The AMBER Alert system, which this bill is modeled after, is a public alert triggered when a child is endangered or abducted.

The mechanics of the alert system are not spelled out in the legislation, but a coordinator from the Department of Justice would be responsible for determining best practices.

“It’s really about protecting law enforcement, protecting communities from gun violence, making sure that people have accurate and instantaneous information when there’s an active shooting to save lives,” Cicilline told ABC News.

Similar alert systems like the one proposed in the bill have been established in Michigan, Rhode Island and Texas, but the new legislation would provide a more uniform, national approach.

While several attempts at federal gun control legislation have been stalled in the Senate due to Republican opposition in recent years, this bill — which doesn’t directly impact gun ownership — was brought to the House floor by the bipartisan duo optimistic about garnering similar support in the Senate.

“I think it’s fair to say that when we pass this bill out of the House, there will be significant bipartisan support. We have been in discussions with both Democrats and Republicans,” Cicilline said.

Upton was one of eight House Republicans who voted in favor of the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021 that would require a background check for all firearm purchases. Despite passing in the House on March 11, 2021, the bill has yet to receive a vote in the Senate, where it’s unlikely to garner the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.

The Active Shooter Alert Act focuses on reducing harm during a shooting event instead of aiming to prevent the active shooter from acquiring a gun in the first place.

“Look, to the extent that anyone thinks that this bill alone is going to do all that we need to do to reduce gun violence in this country, of course, that’s not true,” Cicilline said.

In fact, mass shootings, which can include active shooter situations, represented a mere 1% of all of the 191,897 gun deaths that occurred from 2015 to 2019, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that identifies mass shootings as cases in which four or more people are shot and tracks them through public data, news reports and other sources. They also accounted for only 2.8% of the 74,565 gun homicides during that same five-year period.

The bill is on pace to be up for a vote in the House during Police Week, which runs from May 15 through May 21, according to the bill’s sponsors.

ABC News’ Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — The House on Friday passed sweeping legislation that will invest billions of dollars into American manufacturing and scientific research in a bid to take on China’s growing economic dominance.

The bill was approved along party lines, 222-210.

One Democrat, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, voted against the bill, saying in a statement she objected to “problematic, poorly-vetted provisions” relating to trade.

Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger was the sole Republican to vote “yes” with Democrats.

Passage of the bill comes nearly eight months after the Senate passed its own version last year. The two chambers will now go to conference over the bill to align the legislation into one final text that must pass both chambers again before it can reach President Joe Biden’s desk.

“The America COMPETES Act will ensure that America is preeminent in manufacturing, innovation and economic strength, and can out-compete any nation,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said ahead of Friday’s vote.

House leaders are urging swift action on the reconciliation process — they’ve said their goal is to get it to Biden as soon as possible so he can tout the big win during his State of the Union address on March 1.

The House bill would provide $52 billion over five years to boost semiconductor research, manufacturing and design. This investment comes amid a global shortage of semiconductors, also known as chips, which are essential for the production of cars, smartphones, and medical equipment.

“The semiconductors are microchips that power virtually everything in our everyday lives. From our cell phones to automobiles, refrigerators, the internet, the electric grid without semiconductors, these things do not function in a modern economy,” Biden said during his remarks on the January jobs report.

“The House of Representatives just passed … over $90 billion for research and development, manufacturing and all those elements of the supply chain needed to produce products right here in America so we can keep delivering more announcements like the one we’ve had this past few weeks.”

Biden also claimed that this legislation aims at lessening the fiscal impact of economic inflation that many Americans are experiencing with high food and gas prices.

The bill also provides $45 billion over six years in grants and loans to improve the supply chain issues.

The bill also includes numerous provisions seeking to apply diplomatic pressure on the Chinese government for its human rights violations against the Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region.

While Republicans have been largely supportive of the measure over the last several months, House Republican leadership urged members to vote against the legislation on Friday, saying the bill is “too weak” on China.

ABC News’ Noah Minnie contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has obtained White House records showing then-President Donald Trump spoke with Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio that morning, a source confirmed to ABC News Friday.

The source said call logs records, part of the documents the National Archives handed over to the committee, found that Trump called Jordan from the White House residence and they spoke for 10 minutes, and while Jordan has said he did speak to Trump that day, it was not previously known they spoke that morning, before the attack and the counting of electoral votes.

One entry shows a request from Trump to get Jordan on the phone. A second entry detailed the length of the call.

The records also show Trump did not leave the White House until 11:40 a.m. on Jan. 6 to speak to his supporters on the Ellipse.

ABC News asked Jordan earlier Friday as he was racing out of the Capitol with suitcases in hand, “If you say you have nothing to hide, why not cooperate with investigators?”

“We laid everything out in the letter you guys can read our letter and the biggest point we made in the letter was when you already have a committee that has proven they will alter evidence and then lie to the American people about it that’s a big concern but we lay that out and other concerns in the letter,” Jordan replied.

He also refused to answer whether he would comply with a subpoena from the committee.

“We’ll see what happens we’ll see what the committee does. I’ve got to get to the airport,” he said.

The House select committee sent a letter to Jordan in December requesting he appear for an interview with the panel about his communications with Trump on and before Jan. 6.

Jordan, who has attacked the committee’s integrity, was among the House Republicans nominated to serve on the select committee by House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., blocked him from being seated on the panel given his past false statements about the election results — which led McCarthy to withdraw all his selections to the committee.

Jordan is also one of 147 House Republicans who voted against certifying the election for President Joe Biden and has refused to cooperate with the House investigation into Jan. 6.

He has previously acknowledged that he spoke with the president the day of the riot but Friday’s development that the committee has record of a 10-minute call with Trump provides more insight into the records the committee has obtained.

The Ohio congressman admitted last July that he — like McCarthy — spoke to Trump on the phone on Jan. 6.

Asked in an interview with Ohio Spectrum News reporter Taylor Popielarz if he spoke to Trump before during or after the attack, Jordan said he didn’t remember.

“I spoke with him that day. After? I think after. I don’t know if I spoke with him in the morning or not. I just don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know when those conversations.”

Fox News host Brett Baier also pressed Jordan around the same time on whether he spoke to Trump that day, and Jordan repeatedly deflected, saying he’s “talked to the former president umpteen times — thousands, countless times.”

Baier followed up, “But I mean on January 6, congressman.”

“Yes,” Jordan said. “I mean, I’ve talked to the president so many — I can’t remember all the days I’ve talked to him, but I’ve certainly talked to the president.”

Conversations in Trump’s orbit, such as the call with Jordan, are key to what the committee is seeking to investigate.

Jordan, a leader and founding member of the Trump-aligned House Freedom Caucus, was among the GOP lawmakers who planned to challenge the election results on the House floor. He has said he had “nothing to do with” the attack on the Capitol.

After the election, the Ohio Republican focused most of his efforts challenging the legality of the pandemic-era voting changes in many states rather than some of the more outlandish and unproven theories of election fraud pushed by some Trump supporters.

ABC News’ Libby Cathey contributed to this report.

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(PIERRE, S.D.) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed an anti-transgender sports bill into law Thursday, restricting transgender women and girls from playing on school sports teams that match their gender identity in public schools and post-secondary institutions.

“Thankful to see this bill get support from the legislators and make it to my desk, and that now we will ensure that we have fairness and a level playing field for female athletes here in the state of South Dakota,” said Noem in a press conference after the signing.

Senate Bill 46 was introduced less than two months before getting to Noem’s desk. According to the legislation, if a student suffers “direct or indirect harm” due to a transgender student playing in a sport that matches their gender identity, they can pursue legal action against the school, organization or educational agency that caused said harm.

For lawsuits brought against schools, organizations and agencies that abide by the new law will be represented by the state’s attorney general.

It’s the first anti-transgender bill of the year, according to The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ youth.

2021 was a record-breaking year for anti-LGBTQ legislation; more than 250 of these bills were introduced and at least 17 were enacted into law, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

The decision was denounced by LGBTQ advocacy groups nationwide.

“At a time when young people are facing an unprecedented need for support, it is devastating to see politicians instead invent new ways to exclude them,” said Sam Ames, the director of advocacy and government affairs at The Trevor Project.

The Trevor Project highlighted concerns about the mental and physical well-being of trans youth amid discriminatory politics.

Almost half of trans youth featured in a study by the Suicide Prevention Resource Center say they have strongly considered ending their lives.

Trans youth often report feeling isolated and excluded in academic environments and that discrimination puts them at increased risk for poor mental health, suicide, substance abuse, violence and other health risks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Ames added, “We want to remind every young trans person watching tonight that there are more people fighting for you than against you. We have your back, and we will continue working with our partners and advocates on the ground to challenge these laws and ensure that all youth have the support they need to survive and thrive.”

Noem’s statements on the bill mirror arguments from groups against the participation of trans women in sports who say that trans women have a “biological” advantage over women assigned female at birth.

“It’s about allowing biological females in their sex to compete fairly in a level playing field that gives them opportunities for success,” Noem said.

There is no evidence that trans athletes are disproportionately dominating sports that correlate with their gender identity or that they have an advantage in their sport, experts say.

Dr. Eric Vilain, a geneticist who studies sex differences in athletes, told NPR in March 2021 that testosterone affects performance in only a very small number of athletic disciplines and doesn’t provide any advantage. The Texas bill that was under consideration does not cite any evidence of this either.

National Collegiate Athletic Association, the Olympics and the governing bodies for U.S. national sports leagues currently allow transgender athletes to compete in the sport matching their gender identity.

Opponents of the new law, including The Trevor Project and the ACLU of South Dakota, vow to continue to advocate against these bills.

“Senate Bill 46 simply perpetuates harmful myths about transgender people and reduces trans students to political pawns,” the ACLU of South Dakota said in a Tweet.

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(SALT LAKE CITY) — The Republican National Committee voted Friday to censure GOP Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, in part for their roles on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“Whereas, Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger are participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse, and they are both utilizing their past professed political affiliation to mask Democrat abuse of prosecutorial power for partisan purposes, therefore, be it resolved, That the Republican National Committee hereby formally censures Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and shall immediately cease any and all support of them as members of the Republican Party for their behavior which has been destructive to the institution of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Republican Party and our republic, and is inconsistent with the position of the Conference,” according to resolution text obtained by ABC News and passed by voice vote at the RNC’s annual winter meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger crossed a line. They chose to join Nancy Pelosi in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse that had nothing to do with violence at the Capitol. That’s why Republican National Committee members and myself overwhelmingly support this resolution,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement after the vote.

Her statement notably attempted to clarify the resolution’s “legitimate political discourse” language, adding the words, “that had nothing to do with violence at the Capitol.”

In response to the RNC resolution language about Jan. 6 and the “legitimate political discourse” it said took place, Cheney tweeted out a New York Times video depicting the violent reality of that day.

“This was January 6th. This is not “legitimate political discourse,” she tweeted, with the video attached.

“Cheney and Kinzinger have engaged in actions in their positions as members of the January 6th Select Committee not befitting Republican members of Congress,” and “seem intent on advancing a political agenda to buoy the Democrat Party’s bleak prospects in the upcoming midterm elections,” the resolution also reads.

Both Cheney and Kinzinger have been vocal in their refusal to embrace former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud, and were among the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach the former president for “incitement of an insurrection”– to the disdain of many others in the GOP, who have since been overtly critical of the two lawmakers.

Cheney faces an arduous primary challenge to maintain her Wyoming seat, while Kinzinger will not be running for reelection in Illinois.

“The Conference must not be sabotaged by Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, who have demonstrated, with actions and words, that they support Democrat efforts to destroy President Trump more than they support winning back a Republican majority in 2022,” the resolution reads.

The censure language that the 168-member body approved Friday is a diluted version of an original text pushed by Maryland committeeman David Bossie that initially called for the expulsion of the pair from the party.

The resolution is non-binding, given the RNC’s inability to forcibly remove a member from office, but is not without political consequence, and is patently illustrative of the ironclad grip Trump still has on the party, even without an address on Pennsylvania Avenue.

If the larger conference of Republicans decides to vote in favor of a censure, candidates are likely to be less vocal about their criticisms of the former president, and may even be willing to embrace unverified theories about election fraud to keep within Trump’s good graces and avoid consternation from the national party.

Both Cheney and Kinzinger struck back at the censure preemptively Thursday evening. Kinzinger tweeted, after the unanimous passage, that he is “now even more committed to fighting conspiracies and lies.”

“I’m a constitutional conservative and I do not recognize those in my party who have abandoned the Constitution to embrace Donald Trump,” Cheney said in a statement. “History will be their judge. I will never stop fighting for our constitutional republic. No matter what.”

On Friday morning, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., did not respond to reporter questions regarding the potential censure.

Yet, not all Republicans are on board with the RNC action.

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, representing the winter meeting’s host state, tweeted his disappointment with the potential RNC decision Friday morning.

“Shame falls on a party that would censure persons of conscience, who seek truth in the face of vitriol. Honor attaches to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for seeking truth even when doing so comes at great personal cost,” Romney said.

ABC News’ Mariam Khan contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — After the White House braced for a disappointing January jobs report officials predicted would be skewed by the omicron variant, President Joe Biden took a triumphant tone at the White House Friday to tout the unexpected economic win.

“I want to speak to you this morning about an extraordinary resilience and grit of the American people and American capitalism. Our country is taking everything that COVID’s thrown at us. We’ve come back stronger,” Biden said. “I’m pleased to report this morning, many of you already know, that America’s job machine is going stronger than ever.”

The January jobs report released Friday shows a strong American economy. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 467,000 jobs were added in January — much higher than economists’ expectations that 150,000 jobs would be added. The unemployment rate was little changed at 4%.

In a rare, positive revision, the report also showed that 709,000 more jobs were added in the previous two months than previously reported as data collection has been impacted in the pandemic.

“America is back to work,” Biden said, highlighting the numbers.

As the administration continues to battle rising inflation and growing doubt in Biden’s handling of the economy, White House officials had offered prebuttals ahead of Friday’s report, saying those who were out on unpaid sick leave the week data was gathered will count erroneously as unemployed.

“We just wanted to kind of prepare, you know, people to understand how the data is taken, what they’re looking at, and what it is an assessment of. And as a result, the month’s jobs report may show job losses in large part because workers were out sick from Omicron at the point when it was peaking during the period when — the week where the data was taken,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday.

With the positive report, the Federal Reserve will likely stick to its plan of pulling back stimulus measures and raising rates — potentially even moving faster than previously planned.

Biden noted how Friday’s report caps off his first year as president, and over that period, the U.S. economy created 6.6 million jobs — a figure unmatched by recent presidents.

“If you can’t remember another year when so many people went to work in this country, there’s a reason. It never happened,” Biden said. “Take a look at the chart. You can look at the last, all the way back to President Reagan.”

He also took the chance to tout how the bipartisan infrastructure law passed last year is already taking effect and to push for congressional action on other items stalled on his domestic agenda including signature items in his Build Back Better agenda, like subsidized childcare and lowering prescription drug prices.

“Look, the bottom line is this: The United States is once again in a position to not only compete with the rest of the world — but out-compete the rest of the world once again,” Biden said. “Let’s keep building a better America.”

But even with the strong jobs growth, the latest report still showed significant pandemic impacts.

The number of people unable to work at some point in the previous month because their employer closed or lost business due to the pandemic doubled in January to 6 million. Teleworking increased, to more than one in seven employed people. And among the unemployed, 1.8 million were prevented from looking for work because of the pandemic, up from 1.1 million in December.

It comes as Biden faces significant skepticism from the American public, with his job approval rating lagging across a range of major issues, including new lows for his handling of the economic recovery, an ABC/Ipsos poll from December found.

More than two-thirds of Americans (69%) disapprove of how Biden is handling inflation (only 28% approve) while more than half (57%) disapprove of his handling of the economic recovery. Partisan splits for inflation show expected negativity in Republican views (94% disapproving), but the survey also revealed weaknesses from Biden’s own party with only a slim majority of Democrats (54%) approving. Biden’s orbit is also hemorrhaging independent voters, with 71% disapproving of his handling of inflation.

“I know it hasn’t been easy. I know that January was a very hard month for many Americans,” Biden said Friday. “I know that after almost two years, the physical and emotional weight of the pandemic has been incredibly difficult to bear for so many people.”

But now, Biden added, “We’re seeing the difference our efforts have made.”

ABC News’ Zunaira Zaki and Gary Langer contributed to this report.

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(ORLANDO, Fla.) — Former Vice President Mike Pence on Friday went further than he has before in publicly and directly criticizing former President Donald Trump, rebuking him as “wrong” in his criticism of Pence’s actions on Jan. 6.

His comments came after Trump earlier this week repeated the false claim that Pence had the power to hand the election to Trump in his role counting the electoral votes from the November election before Congress.

“Unfortunately, he didn’t exercise that power, he could have overturned the Election!” Trump said about Pence in a statement.

“There are those in our party who believe that as the presiding officer over the joint session of Congress that I possessed unilateral authority to reject Electoral College votes. And I heard this week that former President Trump said I had the right to ‘overturn the election,’ Pence said in a speech Friday to a local chapter of the Federalist Society in Florida.

“President Trump is wrong…I had no right to overturn the election,” he said. “The presidency belongs to the American people, and the American people alone. And frankly there is almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American President.

“Under the Constitution, I had no right to change the outcome of our election And Kamala Harris will have no right to overturn the election when we beat them in 2024,” Pence continued.

He earlier told the audience of conservative lawyers, “As Constitutional Conservatives, The American people must know that we will always keep our oath to the Constitution, even when it would be politically expedient to do otherwise; theymust know, as the Bible says, that we will “keep our oath even when it hurts.”

“Under Article II Section One, elections are conducted at the state level, not by the Congress. The only role Congress has with respect to the Electoral College is to open and count votes submitted and certified by the states. No more no less,” he said.

“Men and women, if we lose faith in the Constitution, we won’t just lose elections, we will lose our country,” Pence said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(WASHINGTON) — A bipartisan group of senators is within striking distance of a deal on a bill that would impose crippling sanctions on Russia for its hostilities against Ukraine.

“We are finding the path forward very clearly,” said Sen. Jim Risch, top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, indicating that the White House and other key agencies were involved in the negotiations to agree on a deal ahead of any potential invasion by Russia, which has amassed more than 100,000 troops on Ukraine’s border.

Asked if a deal could be announced as early as Thursday, Risch said, “I’d have to say that’s possible,” though aides to three senators involved said it was unlikely.

Top Biden administration officials briefed members of Congress on Thursday about the escalating tensions in and around the former Soviet Republic. Lawmakers leaving the more than hourlong briefing in the Congressional Visitor Center said the gravity of the message from those top officials, including Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and CIA Director Avril Haines, added urgency to their efforts.

“Collectively, what I heard made the case that this is more pressing, more timely, and that time in this regard, if we want to be preventative, is of the essence,” said Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, D-N.J. Menendez, who is the chief architect of the sanctions bill along with Risch, added that he is “cautiously optimistic that we are going to get there.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who is involved in the bipartisan Senate talks, agreed, saying, “The briefing, I think, will accelerate the bipartisan sanctions package.”

Despite the closeness of a deal, differences remained among negotiators on the appropriate triggers for sanctions and when and how to penalize those developing the controversial, but as-yet-inoperable Russia-to-Germany Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a project that would bypass Ukraine, taking with it crucial revenue.

“I am hopeful in the next coming days we can introduce a sanctions package that imposes sanctions now for the (Russian) provocation with post-invasion sanctions that will destroy the Russian economy as we know it,” said Graham, who like many Republicans after the briefing, said he thought a Russian invasion of Ukraine was now a matter of “when” not “if.”

Some Democrats and the Biden administration want to hold back sanctions, arguing that they are more powerful as a deterrent against Russian aggression.

“Deterrence is the idea that if you do X, we will do Y. If you put penalties in place in advance, at least significant penalties, you obviously take away the stick of deterrence,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., a member of the Foreign Relations Committee.

“I think it’s very important that (the) United States put a very strong sanctions package in place,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told CNN, adding that any sanctions need to be announced in advance “to have a deterrent effect.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said sanctions against Russia must be “much more forceful than they have been” but also insisted that any sanctions be imposed after an invasion.

“I think it’s really important for us to use the sanctions if the Russians strike,” Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters Thursday. “It is important because it’s where leverage is at maximum. If they do this, then we strike.”

Pelosi said that thinking is also in line with most U.S. allies.

“This is deadly serious,” Pelosi said. “So, they have to feel the pain, and it has to be felt right up to the richest man in the world: Vladimir Putin. Nobody knows what he’s going to do except for him.”

Indeed, lawmakers have said the legislation, a bill Menendez said puts in place “the mother of all sanctions,” would contain a strong recommendation that Russia be kicked out of the global financial consortium known as SWIFT, or the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications. Based in Belgium, it connects more than 11,000 financial institutions and is used as a messaging platform for the transfer of funds around the world.

If that recommendation is included in the bill, the Biden administration would still have to take action to have Russia removed, an extreme action lawmakers have said is on the table.

The White House confirmed Thursday that it is in close consultation with senators but stopped short of endorsing any deal.

“We are in very close touch with members of Congress about this legislation, which I don’t think has been formally even proposed yet,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters en route to New York aboard Air Force One. “So we are in close contact and in conversations with them.”

Psaki, however, continued to express the administration’s support for post-invasion sanctions, saying that the “deterrent” approach of “the crippling economic sanctions package” and noting that the impact is already being felt in the Russian financial markets.

Still, a number of Democrats were moving closer to the GOP position that pre-invasion sanctions were a must even if the most serious sanctions are reserved in the event of an invasion.

“I think Putin and Putin’s Russia have already committed sufficient aggression against Ukraine justifying some sanctions,” said top Biden ally Chris Coons, D-Del. “I think we should hold back the most aggressive and most punishing sanctions for now as a deterrent because the whole goal here is to keep open some space for diplomacy and to deter aggression.”

Menendez and Risch have been briefing members of their panel this week. One member — Mitt Romney, R-Utah — told ABC News he met with Risch on Wednesday night and the smaller group negotiating the package is “making good progress.”

The legislation would include a measure authored by Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Ben Cardin, D-Md., modeled on the World War II-era “lend-lease” program, which would use existing presidential authorities to allow the administration to provide lethal military equipment to Ukraine to protect the population from a Russian invasion.

Members hope to move any sanctions deal — which, according to two aides involved in the matter, is still in the legislative drafting stage — to the Senate floor quickly, and Sen Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who recently returned from Ukraine and is part of the talks, told ABC News he had spoken earlier in the week with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who committed to bringing any bipartisan deal to the floor for a vote quickly.

And after Thursday’s high-level briefing, it is clear that members are ready to act swiftly.

Coons said he’s “very” concerned about the situation on the ground in and around Ukraine, adding, “It’s really hard to listen to all of that and not conclude that we need to do more.”

ABC News’ Mariam Khan and Ben Gittleson contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Days after two police officers were killed by a suspect using an illegal gun, President Joe Biden headed to New York City Thursday to meet with Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul and to announce new actions targeting gun violence that the White House says builds on his “comprehensive strategy” unveiled last June.

“Enough is enough because we know we can do things about this,” Biden said in afternoon remarks from NYPD headquarters. “But for the resistance we’re getting from some sectors of the government and the Congress and the state legislatures and the organizational structures out there — you know, Mayor Adams, you and I agree, the answer is not to abandon our streets, that’s not the answer.”

“The answer is to come together, the police and the communities, building trust and making us all safer. The answer is not to defund the police, it’s to give you the tools, the training, the funding to be partners, to be protectors and community needs you,” Biden said to applause. “Police need to treat everyone with respect and dignity.”

Senior administration officials said on a call with reporters Wednesday evening that Biden is visiting New York City “because it is a community where they continue, like many other cities across the country, to experience a spike in gun violence.”

Traveling with Attorney General Merrick Garland, Biden’s trip intends to highlight a set of new actions from the Justice Department which includes directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to increase resources dedicated to district-specific violent crime strategies, and increasing personnel and other resources to strengthen task forces that target the illegal flow of guns up the East Coast, similar to the one that was used in the recent fatal shooting of two NYPD officers.

Biden said the Department of Justice will also take steps “today” to prioritize federal prosecutions of those who “criminally sell or transfer firearms that are used in violent crimes” and launch a National Ghost Gun Enforcement Initiative to help bring cases against those who use so-called “ghost guns” to commit crimes.

“If you commit a crime with a ghost gun, not only are state and local prosecutors gonna come after you, but expect federal charges and federal prosecution as well,” Biden said Thursday.

The president introduced the new initiatives at a meeting on gun violence prevention before of heading to Queens with Garland, Adams and Hochul to discuss community violence intervention programs with local leaders.

“I’ll keep doing everything in my power to make sure that communities are safer, but Congress needs to do its part, too,” Biden said in prepared remarks. “Pass universal background checks, ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines, close loopholes to keep out of the hands of domestic abusers weapons, repeal the liability shield for gun manufacturers.”

He also offered a word for the families of the fallen NYPD officers to begin the meeting.

“Detective Wilmer Mora and Jason Rivera are the who and what law enforcement ought to be,” Biden said, calling the stolen glock the suspect allegedly used “really a weapon of war.” “I’ve spoken to their families, and their loss for the city is also a loss for the nation.”

After a series of mass shootings at the start of his presidency last year and facing pressure to act, Biden issued a half dozen limited gun control executive actions in April, which included actions on “ghost guns” and pistol-stabilizing braces.

The president is limited in his authority to act alone on gun control reforms and is continuing to call on Congress to act legislatively, though after months of negotiations, the most recent talks on gun reforms failed in September.

On Thursday, Biden will ask them to reach a bipartisan agreement on an appropriations bill that includes $300 million to expand community policing and $200 million for evidence-based community violence interventions.

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