The US Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer is planning to force a vote to block the Trump administration's decision to lift sanctions affecting the Aughinish Alumina plant in Limerick.
In December, the US Treasury announced plans to end the sanctions that had been imposed on the plant's Russian parent company Rusal after it agreed to reduce the ownership stake held by the oligarch Oleg Deripaska.
Aughinish Alumina employs 460 staff, 200 contractors and indirectly supports hundreds of additional jobs in the region but there have been fears over the future of the plant because of the sanctions.
The Irish Government has been lobbying US officials to highlight the impact the sanctions are having on Aughinish Alumina.
Earlier this month a number of European ambassadors, including Ireland’s representative in Washington Dan Mulhall, sent a letter to Congress urging members to support the lifting of sanctions.
In recent days however Democrats have voiced their opposition to the move, accusing the Trump administration of being soft on Russia.
On Thursday, the US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin briefed members of the House of Representatives on the matter.
After Democrats expressed concerns, Secretary Mnuchin suggested he was open to extending the deadline for lifting the sanctions to give members of Congress more time to review the plan.
In a statement this weekend, Mr Schumer said: "I have concluded that the Treasury Department's proposal is flawed and fails to sufficiently limit Oleg Deripaska's control and influence of these companies and the Senate should move to block this misguided effort by the Trump Administration and keep these sanctions in place."
A vote in the US Senate could take place as early as Tuesday but Democrats do not have a majority and would require the support of some Republicans in order to block the lifting of sanctions.
