US senators introduce bipartisan bill to sanction perpetrators of Sudan war

A bipartisan group of senior US senators introduced legislation Wednesday aimed at holding accountable those fueling Sudan's civil war.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) led the introduction of the Preventing External Aggression and Conflict Escalation (PEACE) in Sudan Act of 2026, alongside Senators Chris Coons (D-Del) and John Cornyn (R-Texas).

"The war in Sudan is a humanitarian catastrophe, a source of instability in Africa, and a threat to US national security," Risch said in a statement, describing the bill as a bipartisan effort to raise costs for the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their proxies.

The legislation directs the Secretary of State to assess whether armed actors in Sudan meet criteria for designation as Specially Designated Global Terrorists and expands the administration's discretionary sanctions regime.

The bill also requires the State Department to submit a comprehensive strategy for securing a ceasefire, mandates reporting on foreign governments and actors fueling the conflict, and extends authorization for a US special envoy for Sudan.

Under the bill, the US president may impose sanctions against anyone found responsible for supplying arms to warring parties, recruiting child soldiers, directing foreign military forces in Sudan, smuggling natural resources including gold and gum arabic, or obstructing humanitarian access.

Sudan has been engulfed in conflict since April 2023, when fighting erupted between the army and the RSF over plans to integrate the paramilitary force into the military. The war has triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, killing tens of thousands of people and displacing nearly 13 million others.

In Jan. 2025, the US has determined that the RSF and allied militias committed genocide in Sudan.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently said that "something needs to be done" to halt weapons support to Sudan's RSF as the humanitarian situation for civilians in the country is deteriorating rapidly.