Constitutional Claims Against OFAC: Due Process, the First Amendment, and Ultra Vires
When a client challenges sanctions in a U.S. court, the workhorse is usually the Administrative Procedure Act (APA): the court asks whether the decision of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) was arbitrary, unexplained, or procedurally defective. That tool has a ceiling. In matters touching national security and foreign affairs, courts give OFAC substantial deference, and an “arbitrary...