Termination of Emergency With Respect to the International Criminal Court
The order terminates the national emergency declared in June 2020 that had imposed financial sanctions and entry bans on International Criminal Court personnel and those who assist it, and revokes the prior executive order that created those measures.
It signals a shift in U.S. strategy toward the ICC: the Biden administration concludes that sanctions are not an effective way to address U.S. objections to ICC jurisdiction over American and allied personnel, though the U.S. maintains its substantive objections to that jurisdiction.
What this order does
What it orders
The order terminates the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13928 of June 11, 2020, and revokes that order outright. By doing so, it immediately ends the blocking of property and assets of ICC personnel and those who assisted the court under that prior order. It also lifts the suspension of entry into the United States — as immigrants or nonimmigrants — of individuals who had been subject to that entry ban, effective the date of signing.
The order preserves the legal status of any actions taken or proceedings already pending before its effective date, ensuring that prior enforcement actions are not automatically unwound. Standard severability clauses are included, and the order explicitly does not create any new individual rights enforceable against the U.S. government. The U.S. reaffirms its objection to ICC jurisdiction over American and allied personnel but abandons financial sanctions as the instrument for pressing that objection.
Who it affects
Foreign nationals previously subject to ICC-related financial sanctions and U.S. entry bans — including ICC officials, employees, and individuals who assisted the court — who were barred from the United States or had assets blocked under the 2020 emergency order. Those restrictions lift immediately upon signing.
Why it matters
ICC personnel and others who were sanctioned or barred from entering the U.S. under the 2020 order regain access immediately. No new restrictions replace them. Parties to pending enforcement proceedings retain whatever legal status those actions had accrued before the revocation date.
What must happen and when
How the order is supposed to work
The termination is self-executing: the entry ban and asset-blocking sanctions end on the signing date without requiring agency rulemaking or further action. Section 2 preserves any enforcement proceedings not yet finally concluded as of signing, so pending cases are not automatically dismissed. Standard savings clauses insulate existing agency authority and OMB functions from any unintended disruption.
Authority and reach
What this order changes
Revokes Executive Order 13928