Trump Keeps Sanctions Authority in Place for DRC Conflict

President Donald Trump extended a national emergency, initially declared in 2006 through Executive Order 13413, that provides the Treasury Department authority to sanction a wide range of individuals involved in ongoing turmoil in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The emergency will remain active through Oct. 27, 2018, a notice in the Federal Register said. Executive Order 13413 cast a wide net over individuals in the DRC responsible for a number of atrocities, targeting in particular foreign individuals and groups operating in the DRC. The order gave Treasury the right to block the transfer of funds associated with sanctioned individuals or groups that are in the U.S., or in control of a U.S. person, or will be in the future.