31 U.S.C. § 321 — General authority of the Secretary
submitted 44 years ago by Pub. L. 97-258 to r/title-31-MONEY-AND-FINANCE · 864 words · no verdicts yet
This law lists the Treasury Secretary's duties and powers: managing government finances, minting currency, collecting receipts, fighting fraud, and advising the President on insurance policy. It also lets the Secretary delegate duties, detail staff, buy equipment, accept gifts for the Department, and consolidate certain financial reports.
(a) The Secretary of the Treasury must: prepare plans for managing government receipts and the public debt; carry out finance-related services required of the Secretary; issue payment warrants against the Treasury consistent with appropriations; mint coins, print currency and security documents, refine and assay bullion, and may strike medals; set rules to promote public convenience and protect the government and individuals from fraud, covering anyone who handles or issues Treasury notes or other government securities; collect government receipts; work to uncover and prevent fraud tied to those receipts, with a view toward prosecuting offenders; keep separate tax records for each state, territory, possession, and collection district, listing each kind of tax, the amount collected, and what was paid to the employees who collected it; and advise the President on major domestic and international insurance policy issues, except for health insurance.
(b) The Secretary may: set rules to carry out Treasury duties; hand off duties to other Treasury officers or employees; move records, property, staff, and unspent funds within the Department to support that handoff; assign up to 6 Treasury employees at a time to enforce Treasury-related laws, with limits on how many can come from customs, internal revenue, or counterfeiting-related funding; allow limited private use of Department phone lines when it does not interfere with Department business; buy weapons and ammunition Treasury staff need for their duties; and combine financial condition reports for multiple Treasury funds into one consolidated report, unless combining a specific fund's information would cause an unreasonable delay in getting that information out — in which case it must be reported separately.
(c) All duties and powers of Treasury officers and employees belong to the Secretary, except two: powers given to administrative law judges under a specific chapter of title 5, and the powers of the Comptroller of the Currency.
(d) The Secretary may accept, hold, manage, and use gifts and bequests of property to help the Treasury Department's work. Money gifts, and proceeds from selling other gifted property, go into a separate Treasury fund and are spent as the Secretary directs, following the terms of the gift as closely as possible. For federal income, estate, and gift tax purposes, such gifts count as gifts to the United States. The Secretary may invest this fund in public debt securities with suitable terms and market-based interest rates; the income goes back into the fund and is spent the same way. At least once a year, the Secretary must publicly report the amount and sources of gifts received and how the fund's money was spent.
The Secretary of the Treasury shall—
prepare plans for improving and managing receipts of the United States Government and managing the public debt;
carry out services related to finances that the Secretary is required to perform;
issue warrants for money drawn on the Treasury consistent with appropriations;
mint coins, engrave and print currency and security documents, and refine and assay bullion, and may strike medals;
prescribe regulations that the Secretary considers best calculated to promote the public convenience and security, and to protect the Government and individuals from fraud and loss, that apply to anyone who may—
receive for the Government, Treasury notes, United States notes, or other Government securities; or
be engaged or employed in preparing and issuing those notes or securities;
collect receipts;
with a view to prosecuting persons, take steps to discover fraud and attempted fraud involving receipts and decide on ways to prevent and detect fraud;
maintain separate accounts of taxes received in each State, territory, and possession of the United States, and collection district, with each account listing—
each kind of tax;
the amount of each tax; and
the money paid as pay and allowances to officers and employees of the Department collecting taxes in that State, territory, possession, or district; and
advise the President on major domestic and international prudential policy issues in connection with all lines of insurance except health insurance.
The Secretary may—
prescribe regulations to carry out the duties and powers of the Secretary;
delegate duties and powers of the Secretary to another officer or employee of the Department of the Treasury;
transfer within the Department the records, property, officers, employees, and unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, and amounts of the Department that the Secretary considers necessary to carry out a delegation made under clause (2) of this subsection;
detail, in addition to details authorized under another law, not more than 6 officers and employees of the Department at any one time to enforce the laws related to the Department, except that of those 6 officers and employees not more than 4 officers and employees—
paid from the appropriations for the collection of customs may be so detailed;
paid from the appropriations for internal revenue may be so detailed; and
paid from the appropriations for suppressing counterfeiting and other crimes may be so detailed;
authorize, at rates and under conditions prescribed by the Secretary, the private use of telephone lines controlled by the Department when the use does not interfere with Department business;
buy arms and ammunition required by officers and employees of the Department in carrying out their duties and powers; and
notwithstanding any other provision of law, fulfill any requirement to issue a report on the financial condition of any fund on the books of the Treasury by including the required information in a consolidated report, except that information with respect to a specific fund shall be separately reported if the Secretary determines that the consolidation of such information would result in an unwarranted delay in the availability of such information.
Duties and powers of officers and employees of the Department are vested in the Secretary except duties and powers—
vested by subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5 in administrative law judges employed by the Secretary; and
of the Comptroller of the Currency.
The Secretary of the Treasury may accept, hold, administer, and use gifts and bequests of property, both real and personal, for the purpose of aiding or facilitating the work of the Department of the Treasury. Gifts and bequests of money and the proceeds from sales of other property received as gifts or bequests shall be deposited in the Treasury in a separate fund and shall be disbursed on order of the Secretary of the Treasury. Property accepted under this paragraph, and the proceeds thereof, shall be used as nearly as possible in accordance with the terms of the gift or bequest.
For purposes of the Federal income, estate, and gift taxes, property accepted under paragraph (1) shall be considered as a gift or bequest to or for the use of the United States.
The Secretary of the Treasury may invest and reinvest the fund in public debt securities with maturities suitable for the needs of the fund and bearing interest at rates determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, taking into consideration the current average market yield on outstanding marketable obligations of the United States of comparable maturities. Income accruing from the securities, and from any other property accepted under paragraph (1), shall be deposited to the credit of the fund, and shall be disbursed on order of the Secretary of the Treasury for purposes as nearly as possible in accordance with the terms of the gifts or bequests.
The Secretary of the Treasury shall, not less frequently than annually, make a public disclosure of the amount (and sources) of the gifts and bequests received under this subsection, and the purposes for which amounts in the separate fund established under this subsection are expended.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 97–258, Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 880; Pub. L. 98–369, div. A, title IV, § 445, July 18, 1984, 98 Stat. 816; Pub. L. 101–73, title III, § 307(b), (d), Aug. 9, 1989, 103 Stat. 353; Pub. L. 104–66, title I, § 1132(b), Dec. 21, 1995, 109 Stat. 725; Pub. L. 111–203, title III, § 378(1), title V, § 502(b), July 21, 2010, 124 Stat. 1570, 1588.)
- 1982Enacted · Pub. L. 97-258 · 96 Stat. 880
- 1984Amended · Pub. L. 98-369 · 98 Stat. 816
- 1989Amended · Pub. L. 101-73 · 103 Stat. 353
- 1995Amended · Pub. L. 104-66 · 109 Stat. 725
- 2010Amended · Pub. L. 111-203 · 124 Stat. 1570, 1588
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 97-258 on 1982-09-13.
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