Dames & Moore v. Regan, Secretary of the Treasury
United States Supreme Court
453 U.S. 654 (1981)
After the Iranian hostage crisis, President Carter froze Iranian assets and restricted related lawsuits by executive order under IEEPA; once hostages were released pursuant to an agreement requiring the U.S. to end litigation against Iran through a claims tribunal, President Reagan issued an executive order transferring pending cases (including Dames & Moore's suit against an Iranian agency) to that tribunal and transferring frozen Iranian assets for settlement purposes, prompting Dames & Moore (plaintiff) to sue Treasury Secretary Regan (defendant) to block enforcement of the order.
Whether the President of the United States has the authority to settle judicial claims through an executive order as part of a resolution of a major foreign-policy dispute with another country.