Congress grants president unilateral power to freeze assets of West Bank actors

What it does

This bill authorizes the President to impose sanctions—asset freezes, visa revocations, and transaction bans—against foreign individuals and entities responsible for or complicit in violence in the West Bank, including attacks on civilians, property destruction, and displacement. The bill requires the President to report to Congress every 180 days on designations, waivers, and violence trends, and permits humanitarian exceptions and national security waivers.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is a presidential sanctions regime targeting West Bank violence perpetrators. It is a foreign-policy and national-security instrument, not a domestic or market-facing measure.

What the text implies

• The bill grants the President unilateral designation authority without explicit requirement for judicial review or administrative due-process hearing before asset freezes take effect, creating potential for erroneous or politically motivated designations with severe financial consequences.
• The definition of sanctionable conduct includes 'efforts to place civilians in reasonable fear of violence with the purpose or effect of necessitating a change of residence'—a subjective standard that could capture speech, protest, or political activity if framed as intimidation.
• The humanitarian exception carves out food, medicine, and agricultural aid but does not explicitly protect remittances, banking services, or other civilian economic lifelines that may be disrupted by broad asset freezes.
• The bill requires reporting on violence and U.S. Government actions but does not mandate assessment of whether sanctions themselves are effective or causing unintended civilian harm.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill protects West Bank civilians from violence and displacement by sanctioning perpetrators, a genuine public benefit. However, the broad definition of sanctionable conduct (including property seizure and displacement efforts) and the President's unilateral designation authority without explicit due-process or judicial-review safeguards create risk of overreach; the humanitarian exception is narrow and may not cover all civilian needs in a conflict zone.

Named in the bill

President of the United States, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Financial Services, Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, International Emergency Economic Powers Act, National Security Act of 1947, Immigration and Nationality Act, Agricultural Trade Act of 1978, Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act

Where it stands

44 cosponsors: 43 Democrats, 1 Independents.

• Aug 1, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Aug 1, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Foreign Relations · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

2 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $820,990 in lobbying spend. A filing names 69 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 41% of bills with at least one filing.

Cory Booker, the sponsor, reported $496,300 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• American Israel Public Affairs Committee — $810,990 on 1 filing
• National Council of Jewish Women — $10,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.