Office of Foreign Assets Control
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is an agency of the United States Department of the Treasury that administers and enforces economic sanctions and trade embargoes on behalf of U.S. foreign policy. It maintains the publicly available Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List, whose designation freezes a person's or entity's assets under U.S. jurisdiction and bars Americans from transacting with them. OFAC acts under presidential executive orders and statutes passed by Congress, and it issues licenses defining exceptions to the sanctions regimes it administers.
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Trump suspends 'Graham Law' sanctions on Russia days before they take effect
On October 16, 2026, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order waiving the sanctions, restrictions and tariffs provided for in the "Graham Law" (the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026), two days before they were due to take effect. Trump invoked the law's waiver provision, certifying to Congress that the suspension was in the US national interest, while leaving the door open to activate the measures later. The decision followed an October 9 agreement with Vladimir Putin on Russian diesel supplies and drew sharp criticism from lawmakers of both parties, including the law's co-author Senator Richard Blumenthal.