WASHINGTON, July 12 — An executive order signed in March has quietly shifted the centre of gravity for US policy toward Venezuela, handing the Secretary of State unprecedented unilateral authority over sanctions, licensing, and diplomatic coordination with foreign governments.
The order, signed on March 25, 2025, delegates to the Secretary of State the power to “take all actions necessary” to implement US policy toward Venezuela. That includes imposing sanctions, issuing licensing exceptions, and coordinating with foreign governments — steps that previously required interagency sign-off from the National Security Council and the Treasury Department.
Under the hood, the change is significant. The order cites the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977 and the National Emergencies Act of 1976 as its legal foundation. It requires the Secretary of State to consult with the Treasury Secretary and the Director of National Intelligence, but it does not require White House approval for individual actions.
This is the first time since the Iran sanctions regime of 2012 that such sweeping authority has been vested in a single cabinet official. The technical reality is that it strips away the interagency process that has long governed sanctions policy, concentrating decision-making within the State Department.
The order also creates a new position: Special Envoy for Venezuela within the State Department. That role will presumably serve as the day-to-day executor of the policy, though the order does not specify who has been appointed to the post as of this writing.
The detail that matters for the longevity of this arrangement: the executive order must be renewed annually by the President or it expires. That gives the White House a yearly checkpoint to review whether the delegation remains appropriate, but it also means the authority could lapse if renewal is overlooked or deliberately withheld.
As ever with executive orders, the scope of the delegation raises questions about congressional oversight. The IEEPA gives the President broad powers to deal with unusual and extraordinary threats, but the delegation of those powers to a single Cabinet secretary — without the traditional interagency checks — is a departure from recent practice.
The order does not name specific sanctions targets or outline a timeline for the policy. It is a procedural instrument, but one that fundamentally alters how the executive branch manages one of the more contentious files in US foreign policy.
What to watch next: whether the State Department exercises this authority aggressively or cautiously; whether the Treasury Secretary’s consultation role proves meaningful or perfunctory; and whether the annual renewal requirement becomes a political flashpoint. The 2026 election cycle will likely sharpen scrutiny of any sanctions decisions taken under this delegated authority.
