Mnuchin will request more Treasury funding for terror unit

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday said he would request more money for his department’s unit on terror finance and financial crimes, known as TFI.

For weeks, Mnuchin has been defending deep cuts the Trump administration has proposed to programs, saying they were tough choices in a budget that prioritized hard power.

In multiple hearings, members of Congress have asked Mnuchin to defend a $7 million cut to an agency that he said takes 50 percent of his attention.

{mosads}“Let me assure you, I think this is indeed the most important function we have in Treasury, or at least right up there with collecting revenues and financing our government,” Mnuchin said Wednesday in response to a question from Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.).

Mnuchin went on to explain that the intent in the 2018 budget was to keep the funding stable based on 2016 levels of roughly $117 million. After the initial budget proposal, a spending agreement for 2017 included a top-up for the agency to $123 million.

“We ended up getting more money, which we will very wisely spend,” Mnuchin said.

But Mnuchin also said that Treasury would be “coming back for additional funding” above the original request.

Trump’s budget proposal slashed $54 billion from nondefense discretionary spending and reallocated those funds to defense.