Treasury Department

The Treasury Department is an executive agency responsible for promoting economic success and is a safeguard for the financial security of the United States (About). Established by Congress in 1789, the Treasury Department has changed and grown as the United States has, and today it is one of the most important agencies of our government. This paper will entail the history, functions, and differing viewpoints of the Treasury Department.
First and foremost, there are the origins of the department. Established by Congress in 1789, the Treasury Department to manage finances. In turn, the position of “Secretary of Treasury” was created, and the first secretary was Alexander Hamilton. Alexander first advised the department to pay back its
The Secretary of the Treasury has been often not recognizable and the public is only really aware of the department when there is a fiscal problem (Fabbri). While both the Republicans and Democrats are in favor of the Treasury Department, they couldn’t be more divided over the current Secretary of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin. For example, Democrat Senator Bob Menendez states “Mr. Mnuchin's entire career can be effectively summarized in one line: privatizing profits and socializing losses,” and Democrat Senator Dick Durbin, also states “ If Steven Mnuchin gets confirmed, the banks are going to have the best friend they can have in the Treasury Department”. Republicans, however, came to the new Secretary’s defense. “The voters spoke in November and wanted change. ... Mr. Mnuchin will help implement that change with a fresh, new regulatory framework that cuts the bureaucratic red tape that costs our economy trillions of dollars each year," said Republican Senator Johnny Isakson. In turn, Democrats boycotted a vote on Mnuchin's confirmation, and have tried to make the process as painful and as slow as possible, but in the end, Steven Mnuchin was sworn in as the new Secretary of the Treasury on January, 22nd, 2017
It also has many functions. One of the main functions is promoting economic success and ensuring the financial security of America. Additionally, other functions of the Treasury include: advising the President on financial issues, encouraging economic growth, producing coins and currency, disbursing payments to the public, collecting revenue, and borrow funds to run the federal government (About). In a time where the government is changing all around, one can only hope the Department of Treasury can solve fiscal problems, keep the national debt down, and ultimately do the job the founding fathers intended for