Rep. Hurd: Trump Veto on Russia Sanctions Would Cause 'Uproar'

House members are expected to pass bipartisan legislation to hit Russia with new sanctions over interfering with the election, while limiting President Donald Trump from easing and altering the sanctions without congressional approval, and if the president vetoes the measure that will send a "very bad message," Rep. Will Hurd said Tuesday.

"I think it would be uproar I'm hearing in the House and Senate," Hurd told CNN "New Day" co-anchor Alisyn Camerota.

"I think this is going to go smoother than most folks are anticipating, but we will see."

Newly appointed White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said Sunday the administration supports being tough on Russia and "particularly putting these sanctions in place."

"We support where the legislation is now, and will continue to work with the House and Senate to put those tough sanctions in place on Russia until the situation in Ukraine is fully resolved," Sanders said on ABC's "This Week."

Hurd said it won't be known until the bill gets to Trump's desk if he'll sign it, but he is feeling "pretty confident" there won't be a veto.

"It will pass in a bipartisan way here in the House," Hurd said. "It will pass in the Senate."

As the Senate already has passed similar legislation, Trump's signature would amount to "codifying the law what most of us here in the House believe, that Russians need to be stopped from further activity, asymmetrical warfare especially targeting us and our elections."

Hurd, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, also is a former CIA officer, and on Tuesday described Russia as an adversary and not an ally.

"They were obviously involved in trying to manipulate our elections, and we should be doing everything we can to try to prevent that from happening in the future," said Hurd. "I think this is a good step in that direction, but we also put additional sanctions on North Korea, and Iran."

Iran, he said, has continued supporting terrorist organizations that are trying to attack the United States, while North Korea "has done over 17 missile launches in the last few weeks."

Trump has not been clear about whether he believes Russia interfered in the election, but Hurd said that after 9-and one-half years as an undercover CIA officer who "chased Russian intelligence officers all over the world," he's learned that "asymmetrical warfare is their tool."

"They want to get back to the territory and integrity of the USSR, and this is something that I saw in my career," said Hurd. "I see now and we're going to continue to fight to make sure they change their ways."

• Sen. Thune: Russia Sanctions Bill Will Be 'Veto-Proof,' Trump Should Sign
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