The Treasury Department is the government's chief financial agency. It collects federal taxes through the Internal Revenue Service, manages the roughly $36 trillion national debt by issuing and selling U.S. Treasury bonds and bills, and produces the nation's currency and coins through the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the U.S. Mint.

Treasury also sets much of the country's international economic policy. It negotiates on trade and tariffs, represents the United States at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, and imposes and enforces economic sanctions against hostile foreign governments, terrorist organizations, and drug cartels through its Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Domestically, Treasury oversees the safety and soundness of the banking system alongside the Federal Reserve and other regulators, fights financial crimes like money laundering and terrorist financing through its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and administers many of the tax credits and stimulus payments Congress creates during economic downturns.