Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) lambasted the Trump administration for lifting sanctions on some Iranian oil last week, allowing the sale of 140 million barrels of oil currently at sea in a bid to bring down oil prices globally and potentially netting Iran $14 billion.

Lawmakers in both chambers, on a bipartisan basis, have spent years working to increase financial pressure on Iran, with broad support. Those efforts have been ongoing, including as recently as last week when the House passed the Enhanced Iran Sanctions Act by a bipartisan voice vote — in spite of concerns from the White House about sanctioning China, which predated the war, that delayed and watered down the bill.

“The irony is, we worked so hard to get those sanctions imposed and Republicans pushed so diligently, and now literally in the flick of a pen, [President Donald] Trump lifts them with very little benefit to consumers in America and tremendous boost to Iran and Russia, both of them trying to kill our troops and saying ‘death to America’ and ‘death to Israel,’” Blumenthal told Jewish Insider.

The administration had previously waived sanctions on Russian oil, which were designed to to pressure the Russian government to end its invasion of Ukraine.

“I’m having trouble wrapping my head around this really, seemingly, stupid action,” Blumenthal continues.

Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) defended the move as an effort to bring down oil prices.

“What the president is trying to do is make sure that Americans aren’t seeing too high of gas prices at the pump,” Ricketts said.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) said that he does not have an issue with the sanctions relief “as long as the money doesn’t go to Iran, then it makes sense.”

“I don’t think that the money was going to go to Iran,” Scott said.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed on Sunday that the U.S. was “jiujitsuing the Iranians” and “using their own oil against them,” suggesting that by lowering global oil prices, Iran would ultimately make less money from its oil exports.

He also claimed the U.S. would track the transactions and block the funds involved from actually reaching Iran, though the license issued to allow the oil sales did not provide any such specific provisions or restrictions. The license also allowed the U.S. to import Iranian oil, for the first time in decades.

Off Capitol Hill, the decision has been met with puzzlement and skepticism from Iran hawks, some of whom have raised questions about the actual impact the sanctions relief will have on lowering global oil prices.