U.S. Department of the Treasury
The U.S. Department of the Treasury is the federal department responsible for managing government revenue, producing currency, and advising on domestic and international financial and economic policy. It oversees the IRS, the U.S. Mint, and the federal government's financial sanctions programs. Under Secretary Scott Bessent, it played a central role in trade policy, tariff negotiations, and economic measures during the administration's second term.
Also known as Treasury Department · Treasury
2026 Events (5)
Treasury and IRS proposed stripping tax-exempt status from 18,000 private schools over race-conscious policies
On September 3, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service issued proposed regulations (IR-2026-103) that would end Section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status for private schools, colleges, and universities that adopt, maintain, or enforce race-conscious policies in admissions, scholarships, athletics, or other programs, including policies framed as diversity, equity, or inclusion. Treasury estimated the rule could affect as many as 18,000 institutions and cited Bob Jones University v. United States and Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard as legal basis; the rule would take effect for taxable years beginning May 31, 2027 or later.
U.S. Treasury designated Palestine Action a terrorist group, criminalizing U.S. support for the UK protest group
On August 26, 2026, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Palestine Action -- a United Kingdom-based direct-action group that has damaged property at defense-contractor sites -- a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224, alongside two other groups. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the action from Washington, D.C., framing it as combating "far-left terrorism"; the designation freezes Palestine Action's U.S. assets and makes it a federal crime for any U.S. person to provide funds, goods, or services to the group, reaching American donors and supporters even though the conduct Treasury cited occurred in the UK.
OCC approved national trust bank charter for Trump family crypto firm World Liberty Financial
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, led by Trump appointee Jonathan Gould, granted conditional preliminary approval on August 14, 2026 to a national trust bank charter application from World Liberty Trust Company, the banking arm of World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the crypto venture co-founded by President Trump and his three sons. The charter would let WLFI directly issue and custody its USD1 stablecoin without an intermediary and settle payments through its own federally chartered bank. The approval followed the same crypto-friendly chartering track OCC has extended to firms including Ripple and Circle, with no independent ethics review of the president's family stake reported.
Treasury's OFAC opened a Cuba-sanctions inquiry into Hasan Piker, Medea Benjamin and dozens of other convoy participants
In late May 2026, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) demanded records from prominent left-wing government critics — Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin, and CodePink coordinator Olivia DiNucci among an estimated 40 Americans — over CodePink's March 2026 "Nuestra América Convoy," which delivered medical and humanitarian aid to Cuba. OFAC is probing whether the aid trip violated U.S. Cuba sanctions law. Benjamin publicly confirmed on May 29 that the organization received an OFAC query posing roughly a dozen detailed questions about the trip.
Trump signs executive order treating immigration status as a financial-risk factor
On May 19, 2026, President Donald Trump signed an executive order, "Restoring Integrity to America's Financial System," directing the Treasury Department and federal bank regulators to treat customers' immigration status as a financial-risk factor. The order tells Treasury to issue an advisory flagging "red flags" tied to non-work authorized populations -- including the use of Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers and foreign consular identification cards -- and directs the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to consider treating "potential deportation and loss of wages" as factors weighing against a borrower's ability to repay. It stops short of an earlier-reported plan to mandate citizenship collection, but legal experts warned it could push undocumented immigrants and other noncitizens out of the banking system.
2025 Events (1)
Trump signed Executive Order 14203 imposing sanctions on International Criminal Court officials and their U.S. supporters
On February 6, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14203, imposing asset freezes and U.S. entry bans on International Criminal Court officials and anyone providing them material support, in response to the ICC's arrest warrants for Israeli leaders. A week later, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan under the order. The sanctions extended to U.S. lawyers and human-rights advocates who assist the court, triggering First Amendment litigation.