The Profitable, Underfunded Agency in Charge of US Sanctions
America’s use of economic sanctions has grown by almost 1,000% since 2001. So why isn’t Congress giving the office enforcing them more resources?
The US Office of Foreign Assets Control is part of the Treasury Department
Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images
Economic sanctions are a cornerstone of America’s foreign policy. In the years since 9/11, the number of entities sanctioned by the US government has grown by almost 1,000%. But the main office that manages them, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), is run by a few hundred government employees with a budget that hasn’t grown as fast as the number of sanctions have.
“It’s implementing dozens upon dozens of sanctions programs, including some of the most important to our US national security and foreign policy, and it simply doesn’t have the resources that it needs,” former OFAC director John Smith told the Big Take DC podcast.