Treasury, Department of the, is an executive department of the United States government that handles a variety of economic, financial, and monetary responsibilities. Among its important jobs are collecting taxes and manufacturing the nation’s currency.
The secretary of the treasury, a member of the president’s Cabinet, heads the department. The secretary is appointed by the president with the approval of the U.S. Senate. The secretary advises the president on financial policies, reports to Congress on the nation’s finances, and is the government’s chief financial officer.
Department functions.
The Department of the Treasury collects federal taxes. It receives all money paid to the government, serves as custodian of the government’s revenues, pays the federal government’s expenses, and maintains records of its income and spending. The department manages the national debt and borrows money for the government when Congress authorizes it to do so. It also supervises the operation of national banks, savings banks, and savings and loan associations. In addition, it develops U.S. policies in the fields of international economics and finance.
The Treasury Department manufactures all of the nation’s paper money and coins. A department official known as the treasurer of the United States oversees these operations. TThe department’s website at https://home.treasury.gov presents additional information on its activities.
History.
The Department of the Treasury, established in 1789, was the second executive department created by the United States Congress. The first was the Department of Foreign Affairs, which Congress had established earlier that year and soon renamed the Department of State. Alexander Hamilton, one of the nation’s Founding Fathers, was the first secretary of the treasury.
In 2002, Congress reorganized the federal government to help increase focus on the prevention of terrorism. As a result, in 2003, the activities of the U.S. Customs Service and the U.S. Secret Service were transferred from the Treasury Department to the newly created Department of Homeland Security. See Customs Service, United States ; Secret Service, United States .
