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 advisor to the president of the United States on all matters pertaining to economic and fiscal policy. The secretary is, by custom, a member of the president's cabinet and, by law, a member of the National Security Council, and fifth in the U.S. presidential line of succession.

Under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution, the officeholder is nominated by the president of the United States, and, following a confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Finance, will take the office if confirmed by the majority of the full United States Senate.

The secretary of state, the secretary of the treasury, the secretary of defense, and the attorney general are generally regarded as the four most important Cabinet officials, due to the size and importance of their respective departments.Cabinets and Counselors: The President and the Executive Branch (1997). Congressional Quarterly. p. 87. The current secretary of the treasury has been Scott Bessent since January 28, 2025.

Powers and functions

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

Salary The secretary of the treasury is a Level I position in the Executive Schedule, thus earning the salary prescribed for that level ($250,600 as of January 2024).

List of secretaries of the treasury

Parties (4) (4) (30) (5) (35) (1)

Status

No.PortraitNameState of residenceTook officeLeft officePresident(s)New York(1789–1797)Connecticut(1797–1801)Massachusetts(1801–1809)Pennsylvania(1809–1817)TennesseePennsylvania–PennsylvaniaGeorgia(1817–1825)Pennsylvania(1825–1829)Pennsylvania(1829–1837)DelawarePennsylvaniaMarylandNew Hampshire(1837–1841)14Ohio(1841)(1841–1845)15Pennsylvania16New YorkKentuckyMississippi(1845–1849)19Pennsylvania(1849–1850)20Ohio(1850–1853)Kentucky(1853–1857)Georgia(1857–1861)MarylandNew YorkOhio(1861–1865)MaineIndiana(1865–1869)Massachusetts(1869–1877)MassachusettsKentuckyMaineOhio(1877–1881)Minnesota(1881)(1881–1885)New YorkIndianaIndianaNew York(1885–1889)New YorkMinnesota(1889–1893)OhioKentucky(1893–1897)Illinois(1897–1901)(1901–1909)IowaNew YorkIllinois(1909–1913)New York(1913–1921)VirginiaMissouriPennsylvania(1921–1923)(1923–1929)(1929–1933)New YorkNew York(1933–1945) New YorkKentucky(1945–1953)MissouriOhio(1953–1961)ConnecticutNew Jersey(1961–1963)(1963–1969)VirginiaIndianaUtah(1969–1974)TexasIllinoisNew Jersey(1974–1977)Michigan(1977–1981)Rhode IslandNew Jersey(1981–1989)Texas–MichiganNew Jersey(1989–1993)Texas(1993–2001)–MassachusettsNew YorkMarylandPennsylvania(2001–2009)–IllinoisVirginia–VirginiaIllinois–Ohio(2009–2017)75New York–IllinoisNew York–Washington, D.C.(2017–2021)California–Virginia(2021–2025)California–Indiana(2025–present)South CarolinaIncumbent

Succession Presidential succession The secretary of the treasury is fifth in the presidential line of succession, following the secretary of state and preceding the secretary of defense.

Succession within the department On August 16, 2016, President Barack Obama signed Executive Order 13735, which changed the order of succession for filling the treasury secretary's role when necessary. At any time when the secretary and the deputy secretary of the treasury have both died, resigned, or cannot serve as secretary for other reasons, the order designates which treasury officers are next in line to serve as acting secretary.

The order of succession is: +#Office1*Under secretaries of the treasury2General Counsel of the Department of the Treasury3*Deputy under secretaries of the treasury and those assistant secretaries of the treasury appointed by the president by and with the consent of the Senate4Chief of Staff5Assistant Secretary for Management6Fiscal Assistant Secretary7Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Internal Revenue Service8Commissioner, Bureau of the Fiscal Service9Deputy Commissioner, Fiscal Accounting and Shared Services, Bureau of the Fiscal Service10Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, Internal Revenue Service *In the order in which they shall have taken the oath of office as such officers.

Notes

References

Further reading Bamzai, Aditya. "Tenure of Office and the Treasury: The Constitution and Control over National Financial Policy, 1787 to 1867." George Washington Law Review 87 (2019): 1299-1387. online

Katz, Bernard S., and C. Daniel Vencill, eds. "Biographical dictionary of the United States secretaries of the Treasury, 1789-1995." (Greenwood, 1996) 432 pp. The major scholarly resource.

Primary sources The treasury policy of fifty years: opinions of secretaries Hamilton, Dallas, Crawford, Rush, Taney and Woodbury, on the currency, public credit, &c (1874) online

Secretary of the Treasury Annual Report online

External links