Elsewhere in the Senate on Tuesday, the Foreign Relations Committee had begun its own examination of United States-Russia relations, with senators grilling other State Department and Treasury Department officials. And later on Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to take testimony from law enforcement and intelligence officials on cyber threats to the country’s critical infrastructure.
Top intelligence and law enforcement officials have repeatedly warned that Russia remains active in American politics and has targeted this fall’s midterm elections.
The report from Microsoft, sharpened those warnings. It said that the company had identified and shut down several websites linked to a Russian military intelligence unit that set out to influence the 2016 American elections. That revelation comes less than a month after Facebook disclosed that it had identified a new, ongoing political influence campaign targeting November’s elections on its network that showed signs of Russian handiwork.
Amid those warnings and the fallout from Mr. Trump’s July summit with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, senators from both parties have been anxiously debating how to raise the pressure on Moscow.
Two approaches dominate the discussion.
Senators Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, and Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland, have drafted legislation to deter Russia from further interference, putting the Kremlin on notice that the United States will enact broad economic sanctions if it does not stand down before the November elections.
The competing bill, written by Senators Bob Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, and Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, would seek to immediately drop a package of what they call “crushing” new punishments on the country for actions already underway.
“Congress is going to act; you might as well know that,” Mr. Menendez told administration officials appearing before the Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday. “I’d rather it act in a way that has your insights about what would be helpful, but if you fail to provide insights then we will provide you with a law that ultimately take place without your insights.”
Senators in the Banking Committee were expected to discuss strategy underpinning those measures.
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