Senate Democrats Seek Assurance That Treasury Exempted Sanctions Office From Hiring Freeze
Three Senate Democrats, including Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have asked the Treasury Department whether it has exempted its Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI) from the Trump administration’s hiring freeze to ensure TFI can continue to carry out its national security mission.
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In a Feb. 13 letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that was publicly released Feb. 14, the senators said that while administration guidance exempts TFI from the freeze due to its national security role, it's unclear if the department has actually applied the exemption to the office.
“Given TFI’s clear national security mission, we seek to confirm that Treasury has not paused hiring for TFI or rescinded job offers, including tentative or conditional offers already accepted by individuals who successfully navigated an extensive hiring process because they seek to help defend our country and our financial system,” the senators wrote. Although the Defense Department has reportedly told its employees that it's exempt from the hiring freeze, “we are not aware of any similar communication from Treasury leadership to clarify which roles and onboarding processes are covered by exemptions.”
The letter says “TFI’s role has become more important in recent years, as it is responsible for implementing and enforcing a wide range of U.S. sanctions programs even as increasing policy demand for use of these tools has outpaced growth in resourcing for the mission.” The office’s other missions include tracking and disrupting terrorist financing, generating intelligence reporting about illicit actors and U.S. adversaries, and pressing foreign governments to close illicit finance vulnerabilities. “TFI’s workforce is essential to keeping us safe as a country,” the senators wrote.
In addition to Warren, the letter is signed by Senate Intelligence Committee ranking member Mark Warner, D-Va., and Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., ranking member on the Senate Banking Subcommittee on National Security and International Trade and Finance. Treasury had no immediate comment on the letter.