The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the

federal government of the United States The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

. It is one of 15 current U.S. government departments. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the U.S. Mint, two federal agencies responsible for printing all paper currency and minting

coins A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

. The treasury executes currency circulation in the domestic fiscal system, collects all federal taxes through the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

, manages U.S. government debt instruments, licenses and supervises banks and thrift institutions, and advises the

legislative A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers ...

and executive branches on

fiscal policy In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government revenue collection ( taxes or tax cuts) and expenditure to influence a country's economy. The use of government revenue expenditures to influence macroeconomic variab ...

. The department is administered by the

secretary of the treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

, who is a member of the Cabinet. The

treasurer of the United States The treasurer of the United States is an officer in the United States Department of the Treasury who serves as the custodian and trustee of the federal government's collateral assets and the supervisor of the department's currency and coinage pr ...

has limited statutory duties, but advises the Secretary on various matters such as coinage and currency production. Signatures of both officials appear on all Federal Reserve notes. The department was established by an

Act of Congress An act of Congress is a statute enacted by the United States Congress. Acts may apply only to individual entities (called Public and private bills, private laws), or to the general public (Public and private bills, public laws). For a Bill (law) ...

in 1789 to manage government

revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of product (business), goods and services related to the primary operations of a business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some compan ...

. The first secretary of the treasury was

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...

from New York, a Founding Father, delegate to the

Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress (1775–1781) was the meetings of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolution and American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War, which established American independence ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

during the Revolutionary War, and one of 56 delegates who unanimously signed the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

. Appointed by

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

, the nation's first president, Hamilton was sworn into office on September 11, 1789. Hamilton was recommended to Washington by Robert Morris from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, who was also a Second Continental Congress delegate. Morris was Washington's first choice for the position, but declined the appointment. Hamilton established the nation's early financial system and for several years was a major presence in Washington's administration. The department is customarily referred to as "Treasury", solely, without any preceding article – a transitional remnant from

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...

. Hamilton's portrait appears on the obverse of the ten-dollar bill, while the Treasury Building in Washington, D.C. is depicted on the reverse.

History

American Revolution

The history of the Department of the Treasury began during the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

when the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

, convening in

, deliberated the crucial question of how it would finance the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

in which the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America. The Thirteen C ...

ultimately sought

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

from the

Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain, also known as the Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in Western Europe from 1707 to the end of 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, which united the Kingd ...

, then led by King George III. The Congress had no power to levy and collect taxes, nor was there a tangible basis for securing funds from foreign investors or governments. The delegates resolved to issue paper money in the form of bills of credit, promising redemption in

coin A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

on faith in the revolutionary cause. On June 22, 1775, only a few days after the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Continental Congress issued $2 million in bills; on July 25, 28 citizens of Philadelphia were employed by Congress to sign and number the currency. On July 29, 1775, the

assigned responsibility for the administration of the revolutionary government's finances to joint Continental treasurers George Clymer and Michael Hillegas. Congress stipulated that each of the colonies contribute to the Continental government's funds. To ensure proper and efficient handling of the growing national debt in the face of weak economic and political ties between the colonies, the Congress, on February 17, 1776, designated a committee of five to superintend the treasury, settle accounts, and report periodically to the Congress. On April 1, a Treasury Office of Accounts, consisting of an auditor general and

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...

s, was established to facilitate the settlement of claims and to keep the public accounts for the government of the United Colonies. With the signing of the

on July 4, 1776, the newborn republic as a sovereign nation was able to secure loans from abroad. Despite the infusion of foreign and domestic loans, the united colonies were unable to establish a well-organized agency for financial administration. Michael Hillegas was first called Treasurer of the United States on May 14, 1777. The Treasury Office was reorganized three times between 1778 and 1781. The $241.5 million in paper Continental bills devalued rapidly. By May 1781, the dollar collapsed at a rate of from 500 to 1000 to 1 against

hard currency In macroeconomics, hard currency, safe-haven currency, or strong currency is any globally traded currency that serves as a reliable and stable store of value. Factors contributing to a currency's ''hard'' status might include the stability and ...

. Protests against the worthless money swept the colonies, giving rise to the expression " not worth a Continental".

Late 18th century

Since the late 18th century, the office has been customarily referred to as the singular "Treasury", without any preceding article, as a remnant of the country's transition from

. For example, the department notes its guiding purpose as "Treasury's mission" instead of "the Treasury's mission." Robert Morris was designated Superintendent of Finance in 1781 and restored stability to the nation's finances. Morris, a wealthy colonial

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

, was nicknamed "the financier" because of his reputation for procuring funds or goods on a moment's notice. His staff included a

comptroller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accountancy, accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior- ...

, a

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

, a register, and

auditor An auditor is a person or a firm appointed by a company to execute an audit.Practical Auditing, Kul Narsingh Shrestha, 2012, Nabin Prakashan, Nepal To act as an auditor, a person should be certified by the regulatory authority of accounting an ...

s, who managed the country's finances through 1784, when Morris resigned because of ill health. The treasury board, consisting of three commissioners, continued to oversee the finances of the confederation of former colonies until September 1789.

Founding

The First United States Congress convened in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on March 4, 1789, marking the beginning of government under the U.S. Constitution. On September 2, 1789, Congress created a permanent institution for the management of government finances:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be a Department of Treasury, in which shall be the following officers, namely: a Secretary of the Treasury, to be deemed head of the department; a Comptroller, an Auditor, a Treasurer, a Register, and an Assistant to the Secretary of the Treasury, which assistant shall be appointed by the said Secretary.

took the oath of office as the first

on September 11, 1789. Hamilton had served as

's '' aide-de-camp'' during the

and was influential in the

ratification Ratification is a principal's legal confirmation of an act of its agent. In international law, ratification is the process by which a state declares its consent to be bound to a treaty. In the case of bilateral treaties, ratification is usuall ...

of the Constitution. Hamilton's financial and managerial acumen made him a logical choice for addressing the problem of the new nation's heavy war debt. His first official act as secretary was to submit a report to Congress in which he laid the foundation for the nation's financial health. To the surprise of many legislators, he insisted upon federal assumption and dollar-for-dollar repayment of the country's $75 million debt in order to revitalize the public credit: " e debt of the United States was the price of liberty. The faith of America has been repeatedly pledged for it, and with solemnities that give peculiar force to the obligation." Hamilton foresaw the development of industry and trade in the United States, suggesting that government revenues be based upon

customs duties A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...

. His sound financial policies also inspired investment in the Bank of the United States, which acted as the government's fiscal agent. The Department of Treasury believes their seal was created by Francis Hopkinson, the treasurer of loans. He submitted bills to Congress in 1780 that authorized the design of department seals, including a seal for the Board of Treasury. While it is not certain that Hopkinson designed the seal, it closely resembles others he created.

19th and 20th centuries

In 1861, Sophia Holmes became the first Black woman to be employed by the Treasury Department and by the

Federal government of the United States The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

when Senator Henry Wilson, James G. Blaine and others advocated for her hiring as a janitor under Secretary of the Treasury Francis Spinner. She was paid fifteen dollars per month. In 1862, she prevented a major theft from the department of more than $200,000 when she came across a box filled with U.S. currency, including a number of thousand-dollar bills, and reported it to Secretary Spinner. U.S. President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

subsequently honored her with a commendation for her actions, and the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

rewarded her with an appointment for life as a messenger with its Department of Issues. Another early woman hired by the Department was Jennie Douglas in 1862. Douglas, who was also recruited by Spinner, is sometimes attributed to having been the first woman to have held an appointed position in the Federal government.

21st century

Departmental reorganization

The U.S. Congress transferred several agencies that had previously been under the aegis of the Treasury Department to other departments as a consequence of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. Effective January 24, 2003, the

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevention ...

(ATF), which had been a bureau of the department since 1972, was extensively reorganized under the provisions of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. The

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

functions of ATF, including the regulation of legitimate traffic in

firearms A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originated ...

and

explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...

, were transferred to the Department of Justice as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE). The regulatory and tax collection functions of ATF related to legitimate traffic in alcohol and tobacco remained with the treasury at its new Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). Effective March 1, 2003, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the U.S. Customs Service, and the U.S. Secret Service were transferred to the newly created Department of Homeland Security ("DHS").

2020 data breach

In 2020, the Treasury suffered a data breach following a cyberattack likely conducted by a nation state adversary, possibly Russia. This was in fact the first detected case of the much wider 2020 United States federal government data breach, which involved at least eight federal departments.

Responsibilities

Basic functions

The basic functions of the Department of the Treasury include: * Producing all currency and coinage of the U.S.; * Collecting taxes, duties and money paid to and due to the U.S.; * Paying all bills of the U.S.; * Managing the federal finances; * Managing government accounts (including the Treasury General Account) and the United States public debt; * Supervising national banks and thrift institutions; * Advising on domestic and international financial, monetary,

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

, trade and tax policy (

being the sum of these); * Enforcing federal finance and tax laws; * Investigating and prosecuting tax evaders; * Publishing statistical reports. With respect to the estimation of revenues for the executive branch, Treasury serves a purpose parallel to that of the

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The office's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, while it also examines agency pro ...

for the estimation of spending for the executive branch, the Joint Committee on Taxation for the estimation of revenues for Congress, and the

Congressional Budget Office The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the United States Congress, legislative branch of the United States government that provides budget and economic information to Congress. I ...

for the estimation of spending for Congress. From 1830 until 1901, responsibility for overseeing weights and measures was carried out by the Office of Standard Weights and Measures under the auspices of the Treasury Department.Records of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
, National Archives website, (Record Group 167), 1830–1987. After 1901, that responsibility was assigned to the agency that subsequently became known as the

National Institute of Standards and Technology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into Outline of p ...

Organization

The Department of the Treasury is organized into two major components: the departmental offices and the operating bureaus. The departmental offices are primarily responsible for the formulation of policy and management of the department as a whole, while the operating bureaus carry out the specific operations assigned to the department.

Structure

Seal on United States Department of the Treasury on the Building

Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

Treasury Order 101-05
, U.S. Dept. of the Treasury. January 10, 2011. Updated April 26, 2011. Accessed November 11, 2012. **

Deputy Secretary of the Treasury The deputy secretary of the treasury of the United States advises and assists the Secretary of the Treasury in the supervision and direction of the United States Department of the Treasury, Department of the Treasury and its activities, and succ ...

***

Treasurer of the United States The treasurer of the United States is an officer in the United States Department of the Treasury who serves as the custodian and trustee of the federal government's collateral assets and the supervisor of the department's currency and coinage pr ...

**** Bureau of Engraving and Printing ***** Bureau of Engraving and Printing Police ****

United States Mint The United States Mint is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury, Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bull ...

***** United States Mint Police *** Under Secretary for Domestic FinanceDF Org Chart
, "The Office of Domestic Finance". U.S. Dept. of the Treasury. October 2011. Accessed November 11, 2012. **** Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions ***** Office of Financial Institutions **** Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets ***** Office of Financial Markets **** Fiscal Assistant Secretary ***** Office of Fiscal Service ***** Bureau of the Fiscal Service *** Under Secretary for International AffairsInternational Affairs
, "About International Affairs". U.S. Dept. of the Treasury. February 14, 2012. Accessed November 11, 2012. **** Assistant Secretary for International Markets and Development **** Assistant Secretary for International Finance **** Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Investment Security **** Office of Environment and Energy *** Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence ( Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence)Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
, "About Terrorism and Financial Intelligence". U.S. Dept. of the Treasury. July 2, 2012. Accessed November 11, 2012. **** Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing ***** Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes **** Assistant Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis ***** Office of Intelligence and Analysis **** Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ****

Office of Foreign Assets Control The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the United States Department of the Treasury, United States Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade economic sanctions, ...

**** Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture *** Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Management / Chief Financial Officer / Performance Improvement Officer **** Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization **** Office of Privacy, Transparency, and Records **** Chief Information Officer *** Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy *** Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs *** Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs *** Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy *** Climate Counselor *** Commissioner of Internal Revenue ****

*** Office of the Comptroller of the Currency *** Office of Financial Research *** Office of the General Counsel *** Office of the Inspector General *** Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) **
Chief Recovery Officer

Bureaus

Budget and staffing

The Treasury Department has authorized a budget for Fiscal Year 2024 of $16.5 billion. The budget authorization is broken down as follows:

Freedom of Information Act processing performance

In the latest Center for Effective Government analysis of the 15 federal agencies that receive the most Freedom of Information Act FOIA requests, published in 2015 (using 2012 and 2013 data, the most recent years available), the treasury failed to earn a satisfactory overall grade.
Making the Grade: Access to Information Scorecard 2015
'', March 2015, 80 pages, Center for Effective Government, retrieved March 21, 2016

Notes and references

External links

*
Department of the Treasury
on USAspending.gov
Department of the Treasury
in the ''

Federal Register The ''Federal Register'' (FR or sometimes Fed. Reg.) is the government gazette, official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices. It is published every wee ...

''
Map of Major Foreign Holders Of Treasury Securities 2009

Annual Reports of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of Finances
– These annual reports also contain the reports of the many departments of the Treasury, including the Bureau of the Mint, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Bureau of Customs, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Secret Service, and the Internal Revenue Service. *
Act to establish the Treasury Department. 1st Congress, 1st Session, Ch. 12, 1 Stat. 65
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States Department Of The Treasury

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...

1789 establishments in the United States Ministries established in 1789 Ministries of finance Financial regulatory authorities of the United States Robert Mills buildings