§ 301. Department of the Treasury

2,463 words·~11 min read·/usc/title-31/section-301

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(a)The Department of the Treasury is an executive department of the United States Government at the seat of the Government.

(b)The head of the Department is the Secretary of the Treasury. The Secretary is appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

(c)The Department has a Deputy Secretary of the Treasury appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Deputy Secretary shall carry out—

(1)duties and powers prescribed by the Secretary; and

(2)the duties and powers of the Secretary when the Secretary is absent or unable to serve or when the office of Secretary is vacant.

(d)The Department has 2 Under Secretaries, an Under Secretary for Enforcement, and 2 Deputy Under Secretaries, appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Department also has a Fiscal Assistant Secretary appointed by the Secretary and a Treasurer of the United States appointed by the President. They shall carry out duties and powers prescribed by the Secretary. The President may designate one Under Secretary as Counselor. When appointing each Deputy Under Secretary, the President may designate the Deputy Under Secretary as an Assistant Secretary.

(e)The Department has 8 Assistant Secretaries appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Department shall have 2 Assistant Secretaries not subject to the advice and consent of the Senate who shall be the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, and the Assistant Secretary for Management. The Assistant Secretaries shall carry out duties and powers prescribed by the Secretary. The Assistant Secretaries appointed under this subsection are in addition to the Assistant Secretaries appointed under subsection

(d)of this section.

(1)The Department has a General Counsel appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The General Counsel is the chief law officer of the Department. Without regard to those provisions of title 5 governing appointment in the competitive service, the Secretary may appoint not more than 5 Assistant General Counsels. The Secretary may designate one of the Assistant General Counsels to act as the General Counsel when the General Counsel is absent or unable to serve or when the office of General Counsel is vacant. The General Counsel and Assistant General Counsels shall carry out duties and powers prescribed by the Secretary.

(2)The President may appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, an Assistant General Counsel who shall be the Chief Counsel for the Internal Revenue Service. The Chief Counsel is the chief law officer for the Service and shall carry out duties and powers prescribed by the Secretary.

(g)The Department shall have a seal.

(Pub. L. 97–258, Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 878; Pub. L. 98–594, § 1(a), Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 3129; Pub. L. 99–190, § 141, Dec. 19, 1985, 99 Stat. 1324; Pub. L. 103–211, title II, § 2003(a), Feb. 12, 1994, 108 Stat. 24; Pub. L. 108–177, title I, § 105(d)(2), Dec. 13, 2003, 117 Stat. 2603; Pub. L. 110–49, § 11(a), July 26, 2007, 121 Stat. 260; Pub. L. 110–343, div. A, title I, § 101(a)(3)(B)(ii), Oct. 3, 2008, 122 Stat. 3768; Pub. L. 112–166, § 2(l), Aug. 10, 2012, 126 Stat. 1286.)

In subsection (a), the words “of the United States Government” are added for clarity.

In subsection (b), the words “The Secretary is appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate” are added to conform with clause 2, section 2, of article II of the Constitution.

In subsection (c), the words “carry out” and “duties and powers” are substituted for “perform” and “duties”, respectively, for consistency in the revised title and with other titles of the United States Code. In clause (1), the words “in the Office of the Secretary” in 31:1004 are omitted as unnecessary because of the restatement and for consistency. Clause

(2)is substituted for 31:1005 to eliminate unnecessary words and for consistency with other titles of the Code.

In subsection (d), the words “in accordance with the civil-service laws” in section 1(a)(7)(1st sentence) of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1940 (eff. June 30, 1940, 54 Stat. 1232) are omitted as unnecessary because of title 5. The words “and shall receive a salary at the rate of $15,000 per annum” are omitted as superseded by 5:5316. The words “carry out” and “duties and powers” are substituted for “perform” and “duties”, respectively, in 31:1004 and 1005a for consistency in the revised title and with other titles of the Code.

The words “in the Office of the Secretary” in 31:1004 are omitted as unnecessary because of the restatement and for consistency. The words “of the Treasury” in 31:1005a are omitted for consistency with other titles of the Code and as being unnecessary.

In subsection (e), the words “of the Treasury” in 31:1006 and 1007 are omitted for consistency with other titles of the Code and as being unnecessary. The words “examine letters, contracts, and warrants prepared for the signature of the Secretary of the Treasury” and “by law” in 31:1007 are omitted as superseded by the source provisions restated in section 321 of the revised title. The words “carry out” and “duties and powers” are substituted for “perform” and “duties”, respectively, for consistency in the revised title and with other titles of the Code.

In subsection (f), the words “carry out” and “duties and powers” are substituted for “perform” and “duties”, respectively, for consistency in the revised title and with other titles of the Code. The text of 26:7801(b)(3) is omitted as unnecessary because of 5:3101. The words “is absent or unable to serve or when the office of General Counsel is vacant” are substituted for “during the absence of” for clarity and consistency. The text of 31:1009(less (a)(6th sentence)) is omitted as superseded by 26:7801(b) as restated in this subsection.

In subsection (f)(1), the words “governing appointment in the competitive service” are substituted for “civil service laws” to conform to 5:2102.

In subsection (g), the words “The General Counsel . . . shall have charge” are omitted as superseded by the source provisions restated in subsection

(b)of this section and section 321(c) of the revised title.