Sanctions on Russian Federation Harmful Activities

April 15, 2021

Executive Order 14024 declared a national emergency with respect to Russian harmful activities and imposed wide-ranging sanctions targeting Russian government officials, intelligence services, and entities associated with election interference, the SolarWinds cyberattack, and Ukraine-related aggression. The order used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to block property of designated persons, restrict financial transactions, and authorize secondary sanctions. While presidential sanctions authority in foreign affairs is well-established, the unprecedented scope of these sanctions, affecting broad sectors of a major economy, raised questions about the limits of executive unilateral action in international economic policy and whether such far-reaching economic measures should require congressional authorization.