On Oct. 9, the U.S. Senate approved its version of the Department of Defense’s National Defense Authorization Act budget for 2026, which included an amendment repealing the 2019 Caesar Act, that had imposed punitive sanctions on entities and officials of the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The vote on the $913.9 billion version of the 2026 fiscal defense bill, which included this repeal, saw 77 senators vote in favor, with 22 against.
Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC), who is a MAGA follower and strong supporter of President Donald Trump posted on X: “Grateful the Senate has passed a REPEAL of the Caesar Act as part of the NDAA! These very severe sanctions were imposed on a regime which, thankfully, no longer exists. Syria’s success now depends on FULL & TOTAL repeal.”
Syrian Finance Minister Mohammed Yisr Barnieh, wrote on Facebook: “The U.S. Senate has approved a provision in the Department of Defense budget to repeal the Caesar Act. The next step is for the House of Representatives to adopt the same provision in its version of the defense budget, leading to the President’s signature before the end of the year, after which the repeal of Caesar would come into effect.”
