US Senate confirms Treasury official as government shutdown continues

As the Treasury’s Under Secretary for Domestic Finance, Jonathan McKernan can influence policies on banking and a US digital dollar.

A majority of lawmakers in the US Senate voted to confirm Jonathan McKernan as Under Secretary for Domestic Finance at the Department of the Treasury.

In a Tuesday vote of 51 to 47, the Senate confirmed McKernan to the US Treasury, serving under Secretary Scott Bessent. Though the US government has been shut down since lawmakers failed to pass a bill extending funding beyond Sept. 30, Congress can essentially continue to operate.

McKernan, nominated to the Treasury by US President Donald Trump in June, has previously suggested opposition to debanking policies in the government, but did not explicitly tie the alleged practice to any association with digital assets. In a December X post, he cited an article from economist Tyler Cowen questioning whether the US banking system could “integrate with crypto.”

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