Biden continues Afghanistan humanitarian emergency over economic-collapse risks

President Joe Biden continued the national emergency concerning Afghanistan's widespread humanitarian crisis and the potential for deepening economic collapse on January 15, 2025. The notice kept in effect the emergency declared in Executive Order 14064, which was created after the Taliban takeover and the freezing of Afghan central-bank assets. Biden said Afghanistan's humanitarian and economic crisis continued to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy. The action mattered because national emergencies must be renewed to preserve emergency authorities, including the legal framework around blocked Afghan central-bank assets and humanitarian carveouts.