Last month, a federal judge ruled that one member of the Department of Government Efficiency could legally access sensitive Treasury Department payment and data systems, provided they complete appropriate training and disclosures.
This action stems from a lawsuit filed in February by 19 state attorneys general seeking to block DOGE employees from accessing the systems, which contain Americans' bank accounts and Social Security data.
Separately, following the departures of the Treasury Department’s chief information officer and his appointed replacement — as well as several other top tech officials — a different DOGE staffer has been named the department’s new CIO.
Here’s the background on the second-oldest department in the government.
The Treasury Department was established in 1789. Its responsibilities include advising the president on economic policy, managing federal finances, producing currency, supervising national banks, and collecting taxes through its largest sub-agency, the IRS. (You might remember from an earlier issue of Decoding DOGE that it costs the IRS 34 cents to collect $100 in taxes.) |
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The department’s budget was $1.32 trillion in federal fiscal year (FY) 2024, comprising 19.5% of the federal budget. The department’s spending grew from an inflation-adjusted $297.5 billion in 1980 to $1.32 trillion in 2024, up 343.8%.
Over the same period, overall federal spending rose 193.7%. That means the Treasury’s share of federal spending went from 12.9% in 1980 to 19.5% in 2024.
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The Treasury transferred 1.6% of its budget to state and local governments. This money helps fund Medicaid, education, infrastructure, and social service initiatives.
The IRS is by far the highest-spending agency in the Treasury Department, spending $230 billion in FY 2024. The Bureau of the Fiscal Service, which manages federal accounting, public debt, and the nation’s central payment systems, was the only other agency to spend over a billion dollars ($16.1 billion, to be exact). |
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As of September 2024, approximately 114,000 employees worked at the Treasury, up from a recent low of 87,758 in 2017, but not too far off from the 104,992 it employed in 2010. Treasury employees were 4.9% of all civilian federal employees in 2024.
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