Ranking Members Warren and Shaheen Press Trump Administration for Transparency on $20 Billion Argentina Bailout

Ranking Members Warren and Shaheen Press Trump Administration for Transparency on $20 Billion Argentina Bailout

"The Trump Administration's lack of meaningful transparency regarding its use of the Exchange Stabilization Fund raises critical questions. The American public deserves answers."

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Committee, and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter to Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio pressing the Trump Administration for answers and transparency regarding its use of the Exchange Stabilization Fund (ESF) to support Argentina's financial markets.

In the letter, Ranking Members Warren and Shaheen underscore their ongoing concerns with the Trump Administration's decision to commit more than $20 billion in taxpayer-backed resources to Argentina without providing Congress or the public with meaningful details about the terms, conditions or safeguards attached to the bailout. Despite repeated requests, the Treasury Department has failed to share the terms of the agreement with Congress, as required by law, and has recently refused to release it publicly, citing national security concerns-a departure from past precedent.

"Americans rightfully have questions about how more than $20 billion of their tax dollars are being used to prop up the economy of a foreign country and its global investors, particularly at a moment when so many families are suffering from an increasingly high cost of living," wrote the Senators.

The Senators note that while the Treasury Department has provided limited responses to prior inquiries, those responses did not include terms of the $20 billion swap line with Argentina's central bank or details on related ESF transactions, leaving serious questions about oversight, repayment and the protection of taxpayer funds unanswered. They further emphasize that the Treasury and State Departments are required under the Gold Reserve Act and the Case-Zablocki Act to provide details to Congress about ESF operations and international agreements. The Trump Administration has yet to meet these obligations.

"The Trump Administration's lack of meaningful transparency regarding its use of the Exchange Stabilization Fund raises critical questions," the Senators continued. "The American public deserves answers."

They concluded by requesting answers to their questions on Treasury's use of the ESF to support Argentina no later than January 9, 2026.

Ranking Member Warren and Members of Congress have pushed back on the Trump Administration's bailout of Argentina's financial markets since day one:

• Senator Warren led her colleagues in introducing the No Argentina Bailout Act, which would have prohibited Treasury from using its ESF to bail out Argentina's financial markets.
• Senator Warren joined Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) in leading 19 of their colleagues in calling for Secretary Bessent to focus on expanding export markets for U.S. farmers rather than further aiding Argentina.
• Ranking Member Warren pressed six of Wall Street's biggest banks on their plans to participate in a private $20 billion investment vehicle to prop up Argentina's financial markets.
• Senator Warren sent a letter to New York Fed President John Williams pressing him for information on the New York Fed's reported purchase of more than $2 billion dollars of Argentine pesos on behalf of Treasury's ESF.

###

• Print
• Email
• Tweet