House Panel Eyes New Sanctions Bureau at State Department

The House Foreign Affairs Committee unveiled legislation Sept. 10 that would consolidate the State Department’s sanctions activities into a new Sanctions Policy Bureau.

The bureau is intended to replace and expand upon State's Office of Sanctions Coordination. A new assistant secretary for sanctions policy would lead the bureau and coordinate its activities with other agencies and allies.

The measure is included in a wide-ranging State Department reauthorization bill that the Foreign Affairs Committee plans to mark up Sept. 17.

The Democratic staffs of the Senate Banking and Foreign Relations committees said in a report last month that recent workforce cuts at the State Department, including in the Office of Sanctions Coordination, were undermining sanctions efforts against Russia (see 2508050069).