{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-cohen-demands-answers-proposed-us-bailout-argentina", "Congressman Cohen Demands Answers on Proposed U.S. Bailout of Argentina", "2025-10-15", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "House", "TN", "Steve Cohen", "C001068", "cohen.house.gov", "cohen", "https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today wrote to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent demanding answers after reports that the United States is bailing out Argentina and its Trump-supporting President Javier Milei. The letter reads in part:\n\n\u201cI request an immediate explanation regarding reports that the United States is bailing out Argentina by purchasing an undisclosed number of pesos and providing a $20 billion currency swap line with Argentina\u2019s central bank, exchanging stable U.S. dollars with volatile pesos. These reported transfers raise urgent questions about the legal authority, source of funds, and policy justification for directing such a substantial sum abroad, especially while significant portions of the federal government remain shut down.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m concerned that the Argentine economy is about to collapse and, if it does, our monies will be gone and the beneficiaries may be two billionaire friends of Secretary Bessent. American taxpayers will come up with zero.\n\n\u201cRight now, federal employees are furloughed, unpaid, and laid off in the name of government savings, and several domestic programs that many Americans rely on such as Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are at risk. Republicans also want health care costs to skyrocket by letting Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits expire, which will affect thousands in my district, Tennessee\u2019s Ninth. The public deserves clarity about how and why the President is bailing out a foreign country instead of working with Congress to reopen the government.\n\n\u201cPlease provide the following information:\n\nThe precise statutory, regulatory, or constitutional authority used to authorize the transfer of U.S. funds to Argentina;\n\nThe exact source of funds used;\n\nThe amounts, dates, and recipient entities or accounts in Argentina that received the funds;\n\nAn explanation of how this transfer complies with current budgetary limitations and how it was reconciled with the ongoing lapse in appropriations affecting domestic programs; and\n\nWhether sending $20 billion to Argentina is more \u2018Argentina First\u2019 or \u2018America First.\u2019\u201d\n\nSee the entire letter here.\n\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-cohen-demands-answers-proposed-us-bailout-argentina"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.8639951013028622, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}