The White House is nearly ready to announce its plans to retaliate against Russian hacking


The Obama administration is in the process of finalizing a package of economic sanctions against Russia, The Washington Post reported Tuesday evening, in promised retaliation for the Kremlin's attempts to interfere in the American presidential election. The response is also expected to include diplomatic censure and covert cyber reprisal, and a formal announcement of Washington's reaction could come before the new year.
Because the retaliation package will be implemented via executive order, of chief concern to the current administration is securing the measures against modification by President-elect Donald Trump, who has taken a friendly stance toward Moscow and rejects allegations of Russian hacking (as does Russia herself). "Part of the goal here is to make sure that we have as much of the record public or communicated to Congress in a form that would be difficult to simply walk back," a senior administration official told the Post.
The executive order is also on shaky legal ground given that the Democratic National Committee, the primary hacking victim, is not a government body, and the hacks did not result in "harm to critical infrastructure or the theft of commercial secrets," the two categories for which a 2015 executive order claimed presidential response authority following cyberattacks. To make this response legal, explains Zachary Goldman, a New York University law professor with expertise in terrorism and security, the White House will "need to engage in some legal acrobatics to fit the DNC hack into an existing authority, or they need to write a new authority."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Christian Brückner: why prime suspect in Madeleine McCann case can refuse Met interview
The Explainer International letter of request rejected by 49-year-old convicted rapist as he prepares to walk free
-
Crossword: September 16, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
-
Sudoku medium: September 16, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants