Jonathan Burke, Citi’s global head of banking sanctions compliance, has been nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as the Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for terrorist financing.
In his opening statement at his confirmation hearing yesterday in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Burke referred to the years when he previously worked at the Treasury Department — from 2008 to 2012, during the first Obama administration.
Burke described his earlier stint at Treasury as a time when “I developed a deep understanding of the intersection between illicit finance and national security. For example, I played a key role in Treasury’s efforts to use sanctions to combat Iran’s illicit access to the international financial system. I also supported our policy efforts to strengthen regulatory frameworks for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing.”
At the hearing, MAGA-aligned Senator Katie Britt (R-LA) focused on the subject of Iran (which she referred to as “the largest state sponsoring terrorists”) and criticized the previous administration (Biden’s) for failing to “squeeze them [Iran] dry financially. ”
Instead, the Senator said that, “billions of dollars were moved into the oil regime.” Britt contended that President Trump “has taken strong action to reimpose a bone-crushing sanctions campaign on Iran and its terror proxies.”
Iran is the world’s leading state-sponsor of terrorism, and the previous administration’s posture of appeasement only fueled this regime.
— Senator Katie Boyd Britt (@SenKatieBritt) September 4, 2025
No longer under President Trump, who has taken strong action to reimpose a bonecrushing sanctions campaign on Iran and its terror proxies. pic.twitter.com/1kiCY8PiYv
When Britt asked Burke his thoughts on U.S. sanctions against Iran, he referred to his past employment with the Treasury department and his experience using a broad toolset.
“It’s a multi-faceted approach,” Burke said. “It’s not just about imposing new sanctions on new targets, but it’s actually complimented by extensive diplomatic engagement with the partners and allies around the world and also the private sector to identify the risks associated with exposure to Iran, so they can take action as well to curtail that Iranian activity. We’ve certainly seen that in the past, when there’s a maximum pressure campaign, and that has an effect on Iran’s ability to raise funds.”
Note: Burke’s current private sector employer, Citi, said in a statement: “We congratulate Jonathan on the nomination and support his decision to return to public service. Jonathan is a leading sanctions and financial crimes expert and has contributed greatly to strengthening Citi’s compliance and risk management efforts during his tenure.”
