Executive Order 14078: Bolstering Efforts To Bring Hostages and Wrongfully Detained United States Nationals Home
President: Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Authorized sanctions against persons responsible for hostage-taking or wrongful detention and directed agencies to strengthen support, intelligence sharing and travel-risk warnings.
Status: In effect. Is Executive Order 14078 still in effect? Yes. Executive Order 14078 remains in effect. See Federal Register record.
What does Executive Order 14078 do?
State coordinated recovery and family engagement, while Treasury and State could designate persons only when the evidence met the order’s criteria.
Before and after
Before the order
The Robert Levinson Act and existing diplomacy supported recovery efforts, but sanctions and family-support coordination were less explicit.
After the order
State added the D risk indicator to travel advisories, Treasury created a hostage-taking sanctions program and the government used designations and diplomacy. Later administrations retained statutory and sanctions tools; no express revocation located.
Who had to do what
| Agency / office | Action | Timing / position |
|---|---|---|
| State | Coordinate recovery and family engagement | Ongoing |
| Treasury and State | Designate responsible persons | As evidence supports |
| Agencies | Improve intelligence and travel warnings | Ongoing |
What happened next
EO 14078 signed.
Legal and source detail
How it works legally
IEEPA, the National Emergencies Act and the Levinson Act support action. Sanctions require evidentiary and due-process safeguards; diplomacy remains constrained by foreign sovereignty and appropriations. No court located invalidated the order.
Sources by type
If a source is unavailable, first check the cited publisher or another official repository. The cited publisher remains the authority.
Primary and official sources
Orders, laws, court records and official implementation material.
How we checked this
Last checked against the sources above on September 9, 2026. How we research →