FATIMA HUSSEIN

Treasury reporter

Hussein reports on the U.S. Treasury Department for The Associated Press. She covers tax policy, sanctions and any issue that relates to money.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., joined at left by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the GOP whip, speaks to reporters following closed-door party meetings at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Republican Senate tax bill would add $3.3 trillion to the US debt load, CBO says

The changes made to President Donald Trump’s big tax bill in the Senate would pile trillions onto the nation’s debt load while resulting in even steeper losses in health care coverage, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in a new analysis, adding to the challenges for Republicans as the

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent talks to reporters about his lunch meeting with Republican senators and the schedule for getting the Republican megabill to President Donald Trump's desk by July 4, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Lawmakers remove ‘revenge’ tax provision from Trump’s big bill after Treasury Department request

Congressional Republicans have agreed to remove the so-called revenge tax provision from President Donald Trump’s big bill.

A Social Security card is displayed on Oct. 12, 2021, in Tigard, Ore. The go-broke dates for Medicare and Social Security’s trust funds have moved up as rising health care costs and new legislation affecting Social Security benefits have contributed to closer projected depletion dates. That's according to an annual report released Wednesday. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

New Social Security Commissioner faces pointed questions about staffing, privacy

After months of job cuts, leadership turnover and other turmoil at the Social Security Administration, the agency’s newly minted commissioner faced pointed questions from lawmakers about the future of the agency and its ability to pay Americans their benefits and protect their privacy.

A sign outside the Internal Revenue Service building is photographed May 4, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Trump’s budget bill could complicate 2026 tax filing season after IRS cuts, watchdog warns

The budget bill championed by President Donald Trump could complicate next year’s tax filing season after the IRS lost one-quarter of its employees through staffing cuts.

A Social Security card is displayed on Oct. 12, 2021, in Tigard, Ore. The go-broke dates for Medicare and Social Security’s trust funds have moved up as rising health care costs and new legislation affecting Social Security benefits have contributed to closer projected depletion dates. That's according to an annual report released Wednesday. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

Medicare and Social Security go-broke dates pushed up due to rising health care costs and new SSA law

The go-broke dates for Medicare and Social Security’s trust funds have moved up as rising health care costs and new legislation affecting Social Security benefits have contributed to closer projected depletion dates.

President Donald Trump speaks at a military parade commemorating the Army's 250th anniversary Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Trump tax bill would widen deficits by $2.8T after factoring in economic impacts, CBO says

President Donald Trump’s tax and budget bill would increase deficits by $2.8 trillion over the next decade after factoring in other economic effects.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., attends a signing event for a bill blocking California's rule banning the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, June 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

GOP tax bill would cost poor Americans $1,600 a year and boost highest earners by $12,000, CBO says

The Republican tax bill approved by the House would cost the poorest Americans roughly $1,600 a year while increasing the income of the wealthiest households by an average of $12,000 annually.

Rep. Billy Long, R-Mo., asks questions during a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing May 14, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Greg Nash/Pool via AP File)

Ex-congressman Billy Long confirmed as commissioner of the IRS, an agency he once sought to abolish

Former congressman Billy Long of Missouri has been confirmed to lead the Internal Revenue Service, an agency he once sought to abolish.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks to reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, April 29, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

US imposes sanctions on a Palestinian NGO and other charities, accusing them ties to militant groups

The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday imposed sanctions on a major Palestinian legal group for prisoners and detainees along with five other charitable entities across the Middle East, Africa and Europe, accusing them of supporting Palestinian armed factions and militant groups, including Hamas’ m

People attend the World Pride Rally and March at the Lincoln Memorial, Sunday, June 8, 2025, on the National Mall in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

‘Not just a party:’ World Pride celebrations end with defiant politics on display

After the raucous rainbow-hued festivities of Saturday’s parade, the final day of World Pride 2025 in the nation’s capital kicked off on a more downbeat note.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent walks at the White House, Tuesday, June 3, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

US declines to label China a currency manipulator, but blasts its transparency policies

The U.S. declined to label China a currency manipulator in a new Treasury report, but accuses Beijing of standing out among America’s major trading partners for lacking transparency.

A Tariff Free sign to attract vehicle shoppers is at an automobile dealership in Totowa, N.J., on April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

Trump’s tariffs would cut US deficits by $2.8T over 10 years and shrink the economy, CBO says

President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff plan would cut deficits by $2.8 trillion over a 10-year period while shrinking the economy, raising the inflation rate and reducing the purchasing power of households overall.

Elon Musk flashes his t-shirt that reads "DOGE" to the media as he walks on South Lawn of the White House, in Washington, Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Fired federal tech staffers file retaliation claim to a panel whose chairwoman Trump also fired

A group of roughly 80 fired federal employees are appealing their terminations to an administrative body in charge of protecting the rights of federal employees from partisan political practices.

Freshly-made pennies sit in a bin at the U.S. Mint in Denver on Aug. 15, 2007. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

Stop making cents: US Mint moves forward with plans to kill the penny

The U.S. Mint has made its final order of penny blanks and plans to stop producing the coin when those run out.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies before the House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, oversight hearing of the U.S. Department of the Treasury on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

US sanctions two members of a Mexican drug trafficking group known as the Northeast Cartel

The United States has imposed sanctions on two members of the Mexican drug trafficking organization Cartel del Noreste, the Northeast Cartel, which was formerly known as Los Zetas.

Rep. Billy Long, R-Mo., asks questions during a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing May 14, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Greg Nash/Pool via AP File)

IRS nominee who sponsored legislation to abolish the agency faces pointed questions

A former congressman who sponsored legislation to abolish the IRS and is now the nominee to lead that agency has faced pointed questions from senators.

Money sent home to Cajola, Guatemala, from the U.S. paid for the construction of dozens of homes, as shown, Nov. 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Megan Janetsky)

Funds from migrants sent back home help fuel some towns’ economies. A GOP plan targets that

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says a Republican plan for an excise tax on some of the funds sent by migrant workers from the United States back to their home countries is “arbitrary and unjust.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies before the House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, oversight hearing of the U.S. Department of the Treasury on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Treasury secretary calls on Congress to raise or suspend the debt ceiling by mid-July

The U.S. is on track to run out of money to pay its bills as early as August without congressional action.

A baby is carried in the tailgating section before an NFL football game, Nov. 25, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer, File)

Liam and Olivia dominate — again — with top baby names for a sixth year in a row

Liam and Olivia have, for a sixth year together, topped the list of names for babies born in the U.S. in 2024.

First lady Melania Trump, from right, Dorothy Bush Koch, Alice Gonzalez Yates, CEO of the George and Barbara Bush Foundation, and Judy de Torok, vice president of corporate affairs at the U.S. Postal Service, unveil a U.S. Postal Service Stamp honoring former first lady Barbara Bush, Thursday, May 8, 2025, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Melania Trump hosts White House event to unveil Barbara Bush postage stamp

In the White House’s East Room, first lady Melania Trump and members of the Bush family gathered to unveil a U.S postage stamp bearing the portrait of former first lady Barbara Bush.

The U.S. Social Security Administration office is seen in Mount Prospect, Ill., Oct. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

More older Americans worry Social Security won’t be there for them, an AP-NORC poll finds

A poll finds that as the Social Security Administration undergoes massive changes and staffing cuts ushered in by the Trump administration, an increasing share of older Americans, particularly Democrats, aren’t confident the benefit will be available to them.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies before the House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, oversight hearing of the U.S. Department of the Treasury on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Top US officials will meet with Chinese delegation in Switzerland in first major talks of trade war

Top U.S. officials are set to meet with a high-level Chinese delegation this weekend in Switzerland.

FILE- First Data Corp. Chairman & CEO Frank Bisignano is interviewed on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Oct. 15, 2015. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Senate confirms Bisignano to lead Social Security Administration as agency faces DOGE overhaul

Wall Street veteran Frank Bisignano has been confirmed by the Senate to serve as commissioner of the Social Security Administration.

Spencer Goidel, an Equal Employment Opportunity Specialist with the Internal Revenue Service who was notified his job would be eliminated as part of the government's efficiency cuts, stands for a portrait outside his home in Boca Raton, Fla., April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Daniel Kozin)

Disabled workers have faced prejudice. Now they face DOGE firings

Layoffs of disabled workers across the federal government are raising questions about its commitment to inclusion.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaks to reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Tuesday, April 29, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

US imposes sanctions on a Mexican cartel linked to a drug trafficking and fuel-theft network

The Trump administration has imposed economic sanctions on three Mexican nationals and two Mexico-based entities involved in a drug trafficking and fuel theft network that’s linked to Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, during the Institute of International Finance Global Outlook Forum at the Willard Hotel in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Bessent says IMF and World Bank need reform and there’s an ‘opportunity for a big deal’ with China

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has played a balancing act trying to reassure nervous investors that the U.S. would maintain its global leadership role while staying true to the Trump administration’s skepticism of multilateral banking organizations.

This March 22, 2013, file photo shows the exterior of the Internal Revenue Service building in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

IRS turmoil: Leadership churn, worker exodus and threats to groups’ tax-exempt status roil agency

The height of tax season was the height of turmoil at the IRS. The agency has churned through acting directors and is preparing to lose tens of thousands of workers to layoffs and voluntary retirements.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent listens as President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as he participates in a ceremonial swearing in of Paul Atkins as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

US Treasury secretary says trade war with China is not ‘sustainable’

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Tuesday speech that the ongoing tariffs showdown with China is unsustainable and expects a “de-escalation” in the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley arrives to testify on the Hunter Biden investigation during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing, Dec. 5, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

IRS whistleblower on Hunter Biden is out as acting commissioner just days after getting the job

An IRS agent who testified publicly about investigations into Hunter Biden’s taxes and was promoted to be acting IRS commissioner is out of the job just days after he got it.

Visitors stop at the statue of John Harvard in Harvard Yard at Harvard University, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Trump administration takes aim at Harvard’s international students and tax-exempt status

President Donald Trump’s administration has escalated its ongoing battle with Harvard, threatening to block the university from enrolling international students, who make up 27% of the campus.