US Treasury

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Biden Issues Warning Over Iran Attack on Israel

The US and UK have now hit Iran with sanctions

(Newser) - The US and UK on Thursday imposed a new round of sanctions on Iran as concern grows that Tehran's unprecedented attack on Israel could fuel a wider war in the Middle East, per the AP . The US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control targeted 16...

Culinary Diplomacy: What's Janet Yellen Eating in China?

She ate potentially psychedelic mushrooms on her last visit, and all eyes are on this trip

(Newser) - Ever since she ate mushrooms that can have psychedelic effects in Beijing last July, Janet Yellen has united Americans and Chinese in wanting to know what she'll eat next. As the AP reports, now that the US Treasury secretary is back in China this week, having stopped in Guangzhou...

Parents, Check Your Accounts This Week

First of 6 monthly installments for enhanced child tax credit are due out Thursday

(Newser) - If you have kids and fit the eligibility requirements, you could see your first monthly payment from the US Treasury this week. The first installment to 39 million families, comprising 65 million kids, are set to be disseminated on Thursday, either via direct deposit or check. Most families will automatically...

Janet Yellen at Helm of Treasury Is a Big First

Senate OKs Biden's nominee, making her the first woman to lead the department

(Newser) - The Senate on Monday approved President Biden's nomination of Janet Yellen to be the nation's 78th Treasury secretary, making her the first woman to hold the job in the department's 232-year history. Yellen, a former chair of the Federal Reserve, was approved by the Senate in an...

Treasury, Commerce Hit by Hackers in Monthslong Breach

'Unacceptable risk' to government tied back to hugely popular server software

(Newser) - US government agencies were ordered to scour their networks for malware and disconnect potentially compromised servers after authorities learned the Treasury and Commerce departments were hacked in a monthslong global cyberespionage campaign, discovered when a prominent cybersecurity firm learned it had been breached. In a rare emergency directive issued late...

Report: Treasury Looking at 'Unprecedented' Control of USPS

'WaPo': Administration may use $10B loan as leverage for more sway over Postal Service

(Newser) - As part of its $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief effort, Congress has authorized the Treasury Department to extend an emergency $10 billion loan to the struggling US Postal Service. But now the Trump administration is reportedly mulling tacking on conditions to that loan that would put some aspects of the...

Stimulus Checks Will Have an Unusual Name on Them

A president's name, for the first time ever

(Newser) - If you're among the Americans checking their mailboxes for a stimulus check, the Washington Post reports that yours will be coming to you a little differently than any other IRS disbursement in history: It will bear the words "President Donald J. Trump" on the left-hand side of the...

Penny Might Go the Way of the Dodo

Treasury secretary detailed plan to eliminate coin in 2015 memo

(Newser) - Now might not be the best time to invest in zinc. The US could be following in Canada's footsteps —and those of a host of other countries, per Quartz —in ridding itself of the pricey penny, according to a March 2015 memo sent to President Obama. In...

Hamilton Creator: Founding Father Will Stay on $10 Bill

Treasury Secretary says he'll be 'very happy'

(Newser) - Fans of Alexander Hamilton need not fear a new design for the $10 bill. Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator and star of Broadway musical Hamilton, says Treasury Secretary Jack Lew assured him during a Monday meeting that he is "going to be very happy" with the new bill design, to begin...

Time for Women on US Paper Money?

Obama says it's a 'pretty good idea'

(Newser) - The days of American paper money being an all-boys club could be numbered. President Obama said yesterday that he had received a letter from a young girl wondering why there were no women on US bills, "and then she gave me a long list of possible women to put...

We Lost $105M Making Pennies, Nickels

Time to take the nickel out of nickels?

(Newser) - Making small change was a big money-loser for the US Mint—and the American taxpayer—last year for the eighth year in a row, with the loss from making pennies and nickels adding up to $105 million. Rising metal prices have made the cost of minting the coins rise to...

US Picks New Fight With Germany— on Economics

Merkel's camp fires back at Treasury report

(Newser) - As if US-German relations weren't fraught enough already, the US Treasury savaged the eurozone powerhouse in its semiannual currency report yesterday, complaining that "Germany's anemic pace of domestic demand growth and dependence on exports" have hurt the EU's struggling members, and created "a deflationary bias...

Senate Panel OKs Jack Lew
 Senate Panel 
 OKs Jack Lew 

Senate Panel OKs Jack Lew

Treasury nominee now heads to full Senate

(Newser) - The Senate Finance Committee has given Jack Lew its stamp of approval, pushing forward his semi-contentious nomination as secretary of the Treasury by a 19-5 vote, reports Politico . Max Baucus, the panel's Democrat chairman, said ahead of the vote that Lew had answered all questions "in a thorough...

Obama Will Pick Jack Lew to Replace Geithner: Source

He'll announce the pick tomorrow

(Newser) - President Obama will tomorrow name current Chief of Staff Jack Lew as his nominee for Treasury secretary, a source tells Bloomberg News . Obama has already offered the position to Lew, the source says. The move doesn't exactly come as a surprise; Lew, a former director of the Office of...

Quick Debt Ceiling Fix: $1T Coin
 Quick Debt 
 Ceiling Fix: 
 $1T Coin 
paul krugman

Quick Debt Ceiling Fix: $1T Coin

Or, Obama could just raise limit himself

(Newser) - Think the whole debt-ceiling debate is silly? Paul Krugman does, too, and he's been pushing an admittedly "silly" way out of it. A legal loophole intended for making commemorative coins, he writes in the New York Times , could come in handy: Thanks to the rule, the US Treasury...

Geithner: Obama Won't Ask Me to Stay

Treasury secretary says he's done after election

(Newser) - Tim Geithner is pretty sure he's going to be joining the ranks of the jobless after the election: The Treasury secretary—the longest serving member of President Obama's economic team—tells Bloomberg that Obama is "not going to ask me to stay on, I’m pretty confident....

Debt Crisis Could Make Lehman's Fail Look Lame

Downgrade could be worse: Neel Kashkari

(Newser) - If the debt follies in Washington result in US credit being downgraded, it could end up being a worse financial hit than the epic failure of Lehman Brothers, writes Neel Kashkari. The former assistant secretary to the Treasury, who was appointed by George W Bush to oversee the $700 billion...

Debt Ceiling Showdown: New Reports Indicate US May Not Default on Aug. 2
 US Won't Default on Aug. 2 
new reports

US Won't Default on Aug. 2

New reports indicate the feds have a little wiggle room

(Newser) - The US blew past a seventh (and final? ) deadline for coming up with a debt ceiling extension plan yesterday, but new reports indicate the country may not actually default a week from today. According to economic analysts at UBS, Aug. 8 is the earliest date the government might run...

Treasury to Sell Off $142B in Toxic Assets, Make Billions

'Notably improved' market means $15B-$20B profit for taxpayers

(Newser) - The Treasury Department will start selling the $142 billion portfolio of mortgage-backed securities, the "toxic" assets it bought up during the financial crisis , the Wall Street Journal reports. The securities are mostly 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. And having bought the securities...

Obama Enters G20 Currency Fray

Germany blasts US currency policy ahead of summit

(Newser) - Days ahead of a G20 summit, President Obama has weighed in on an international debate over currency, as the US seeks to cull huge German and Chinese trade surpluses, the Wall Street Journal reports. At a New Delhi press conference, Obama seemed supportive of the Fed’s decision to buy...

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