Media: White House pressuring Congress to repeal Caesar Act on Syria

Five months after US President Donald Trump promised to lift sanctions on Syria, the restrictions remain in place. The White House is pressuring Congress to lift them completely, believing this is key to Syria's recovery and strengthening US influence in the Middle East, Report informs referring to Al-Monitor.

Trump lifted most of the US sanctions, stating that he wanted to give Syria and its newly formed government "a chance at greatness." However, lifting the most stringent measures, contained in the Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019, known as the Caesar Act, requires congressional approval.

The Trump administration has issued a 180-day waiver suspending the Caesar Act, but experts say that only the permanent lifting of sanctions will provide international investors with the confidence to do business in Syria.

In a lengthy X post on Monday, the administration's Syria envoy, Tom Barrack, described the Caesar Act as a "sanctions regime that served its moral purpose" against Assad "but now suffocates a nation seeking to rebuild." Repealing the sweeping law, he argued, would unleash "one of the most consequential reconstruction efforts since post-war Europe."

Behind the scenes, officials across the White House and the State and Treasury Departments have been "very clear to Congress that the official position of the administration is full, clean repeal of Caesar," a senior congressional aide said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Another congressional source said Barrack had placed calls to senior Republican lawmakers in recent weeks urging them to support the law's repeal.

However, pro-Israel organizations in Washington, seeing Syria as a potential threat to Israel and regional minorities, are lobbying for the sanctions to be maintained.

A Syrian delegation, led by the ministers of finance and economy, and the head of the Central Bank, recently visited Washington, calling for the lifting of sanctions and the elimination of the 41% tariff on trade with the United States.

If Congress does not include the repeal of the Caesar Act in this year's defense budget, the process could drag on for at least a year.