Neha Patil (Editor)

United States Secretary of the Treasury

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Style
  
Mr. Secretary

Reports to
  
The President

Term length
  
No fixed term

Member of
  
Cabinet

Seat
  
Washington, D.C., U.S.

United States Secretary of the Treasury

Appointer
  
The President with Senate advice and consent

The Secretary of the Treasury is the head of the U.S. Department of the Treasury which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also included several federal law enforcement agencies. This position in the Federal Government of the United States is analogous to the Minister of Finance in many other countries. The Secretary of the Treasury is a member of the President's Cabinet, and is nominated by the President of the United States. Nominees for The Secretary of the Treasury undergo a confirmation hearing before the United States Senate Committee on Finance before being confirmed by the United States Senate.

Contents

The Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Defense are generally regarded as the four most important cabinet officials because of the importance of their departments. The Secretary of the Treasury is a non-statutory member of the U.S. National Security Council and fifth in the United States presidential line of succession.

Powers and functions

The Secretary of the Treasury is the principal economic advisor to the President and plays a critical role in policy-making by bringing an economic and government financial policy perspective to issues facing the government. The Secretary is responsible for formulating and recommending domestic and international financial, economic, and tax policy, participating in the formulation of broad fiscal policies that have general significance for the economy, and managing the public debt. The Secretary oversees the activities of the Department in carrying out its major law enforcement responsibilities; in serving as the financial agent for the United States Government; and in manufacturing coins and currency. The Chief Financial Officer of the government, the Secretary serves as Chairman Pro Tempore of the President's Economic Policy Council, Chairman of the Boards and Managing Trustee of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds, and as U.S. Governor of the International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The Secretary along with the Treasurer must sign Federal Reserve notes before they can become legal tender. The Secretary also manages the United States Emergency Economic Stabilization fund.

Most of the Department's law enforcement agencies such as the U.S. Customs Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the U.S. Secret Service were reassigned to other Departments in 2003 in conjunction with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.

The Secretary of the Treasury salary is $205,700 annually.

Parties

  No party (1)   Federalist (4)   Democratic-Republican (4)   Democratic (29)   Whig (5)   Republican (34)

Status

1 William Jones served as acting secretary between the resignation of Alexander J. Dallas and appointment of William H. Crawford.

2 Deputy Secretary of the Treasury M. Peter McPherson served as Acting Secretary of the Treasury from August 17, 1988, to September 15, 1988.

3 Because of the resignation of Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Roger Altman in August 1994, Under Secretary of Treasury for Domestic Finance Frank N. Newman served from December 22, 1994, to January 11, 1995 as Acting Secretary of the Treasury.

4 Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Kenneth W. Dam served as Acting Secretary of the Treasury from December 31, 2002, to February 3, 2003.

5 Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Robert M. Kimmitt served as Acting Secretary of the Treasury from June 30, 2006, to July 9, 2006.

6 Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart A. Levey served as Acting Secretary of the Treasury from January 20, 2009, until the confirmation of Timothy Geithner, which occurred January 26, 2009.

7 Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Neal Wolin served as Acting Secretary of the Treasury from January 25, 2013, until the confirmation of Jack Lew which occurred February 28, 2013.

8 Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Adam Szubin served as Acting Secretary of the Treasury from January 20, 2017, until the confirmation of Steven Mnuchin which occurred February 13, 2017.

If both the Secretary and the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury are unable to carry out the duties of the office of Secretary of the Treasury, then whichever Treasury official of Under Secretary rank sworn in earliest assumes the role of Acting Secretary. Positions listed on the Department of the Treasury website include the Under Secretary for Domestic Finance, the Under Secretary for International Affairs, and the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

Living former Secretaries of the Treasury

As of March 2017, there are eleven living former Secretaries of the Treasury, the oldest being George P. Shultz (served 1972-1974, born 1920). The most recent Secretary of the Treasury to die was Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr. (served 1993–1994, born 1921), on May 23, 2006.

References

United States Secretary of the Treasury Wikipedia