Iran sanctions now bar entry to U.S. — no new due process
H.R. 5495 — SEVER Act · Filed by Claudia Tenney (R-NY) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Sep 18, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends federal law to deny U.S. visas to individuals subject to sanctions under Executive Order 13876 (Iran sanctions). It targets foreign nationals—particularly UN representatives—who are sanctioned by the U.S. government for Iran-related activity, barring them from entry to the United States.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a straightforward amendment to visa-denial law, adding a new category of excludable persons tied to Iran sanctions. It is a targeted foreign-policy enforcement tool, not a broad deregulation or subsidy.
What the text implies
- The bill references Executive Order 13876 'as in effect on September 16, 2025' — a snapshot date that locks the sanctions list to a specific moment, potentially creating ambiguity if the EO is later amended or rescinded.
- No procedural safeguards are added for individuals to challenge their inclusion on the Iran-sanctions list or to appeal visa denial; the bill relies entirely on the executive's sanctions determination.
- The phrase 'or is subject to sanctions' is broad and could capture individuals sanctioned for tangential Iran-related conduct, not just direct threats.
- The bill does not define what constitutes 'subject to sanctions' — whether it includes secondary sanctions, designations by other agencies, or only OFAC determinations remains unclear from the bill text alone.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill strengthens U.S. foreign-policy enforcement against Iran-sanctioned actors, which may serve national security interests; however, it also expands executive power to exclude foreign nationals without new procedural safeguards, and the scope of "sanctions pursuant to Executive Order 13876" is not defined in this bill itself, creating potential for over-broad application.
Named in the bill
Executive Order 13876, Iran, United Nations, U.S. Department of State, OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control), Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991, 8 U.S.C. 1102 note
Where it stands
2 cosponsors: 2 Republicans.
- Sep 18, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Sep 18, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $40,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 10 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Claudia Tenney, the sponsor, reported $1,189,908 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- University of New Hampshire — $40,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 15, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (538 characters) on Aug 13, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 15, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Iran sanctions now bar entry to U.S. — no new due process” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr5495 Report an error
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