Federal district court grants preliminary injunction blocking Treasury sanctions on Albanese

A federal district court judge granted a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of Treasury's IEEPA sanctions against UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, finding a substantial likelihood of success on First Amendment grounds. The court held that the Treasury designation rested entirely on Albanese's published UN reports and that using IEEPA to penalize protected advocacy raised serious constitutional questions. The government immediately appealed to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals and sought an administrative stay.