By Diyar Guldogan
WASHINGTON (AA) - Two US senators on Thursday pressed the Trump administration for answers and transparency over its use of the Treasury Department’s Exchange Stabilization Fund to support Argentina’s financial markets.
In a letter sent to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Elizabeth Warren raised concern over the administration’s decision to commit more than $20 billion in taxpayer-backed resources to Argentina without providing Congress with detailed information about the terms or safeguards tied to the assistance.
"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," the senators wrote.
The letter notes that while Treasury officials have provided limited responses to earlier inquiries, they have not disclosed the terms of the $20 billion swap line with Argentina’s Central Bank or details of related Exchange Stabilization Fund transactions. As a result, the senators said, key questions about oversight, repayment, and protections for the US remain unanswered.
“The Trump Administration’s lack of meaningful transparency regarding its use of the Exchange Stabilization Fund raises critical questions,” they wrote. “The American public deserves answers.”
In October, the US finalized a $20 billion currency swap framework with the Central Bank of Argentina, following a four-day meeting in Washington, DC, between Bessent and Argentina’s Economy Minister Luis Caputo.