Laurie S. Schaffer — profile dossier

Pandemic-program role: Treasury's senior career lawyer during the 2021 relief-oversight phase. She was appointed Principal Deputy General Counsel (Feb 2021) and elevated to Acting General Counsel, in which capacity she was the named Treasury party to the April 29, 2021 DOJ Office of Legal Counsel opinion that limited the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery (SIGPR) to CARES Act Title IV, Subtitle A, formally placing PPP, the Payroll Support Program, and the Coronavirus Relief Fund outside SIGPR's oversight reach.
Institution · office: Treasury · Office of the General Counsel (Treasury Legal Division) · Type: career
Tenure (relief-relevant): Principal Deputy General Counsel from on/about Feb 3, 2021; Acting General Counsel during 2021 (by late April 2021, per the OLC opinion and her Treasury bio); she moved from OGC to Treasury's Office of Financial Institutions between September 2023 and September 2024.¹²³⁴

The job (role mechanics)

Level / appointment: Career SES. Principal Deputy General Counsel is Treasury's top career legal post directly under the (politically appointed, Senate-confirmed) General Counsel; when she served as Acting General Counsel she filled the GC seat in an acting capacity but remained a career official.¹⁴
Reports to: The General Counsel of the Treasury (a PAS / Executive Schedule Level IV position); when Acting GC, effectively to the Deputy Secretary and Secretary (Janet L. Yellen during the relief-oversight period).⁴
Core responsibility: As Acting General Counsel, "the chief legal officer of the U.S. Department of the Treasury," providing legal and policy counseling to the Secretary and senior officials across domestic finance, international economic affairs, tax policy, terrorism finance, and financial-crimes enforcement, and serving as head of the Treasury Legal Division (the separate bureau comprising all Treasury legal counsel).⁴
Pay: Career SES; no individual salary figure is documented. The 2021 SES base-pay range was $132,552–$199,300 (OPM Salary Table 2021-ES).⁵
Expectations / mandate: Run Treasury's legal function; advise the Secretary; manage the Department's litigation posture and its relationships with oversight bodies, including the 2021 jurisdictional dispute with SIGPR over access to relief-program data.⁴³
Tenure norm: Career civil servant.

Who they are

Laurie Stephanie Schaffer is a career financial-regulation lawyer who has moved between the Federal Reserve Board and the Treasury Department. Within Treasury she rose to Acting General Counsel in 2021 and later served as Acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions.

Education

J.D., Fordham University School of Law.¹⁴
B.A., American University, School of International Service.¹⁴

Career before

U.S. Treasury: Assistant General Counsel for Banking and Finance, 2008–2011. Played "a critical role in the Department response to the financial crisis and in the drafting [of] the Administration's regulatory reform legislation," and provided legal and policy support during congressional consideration of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.¹⁴
Federal Reserve Board: Deputy General Counsel, Legal Division. Managed the Banking Regulation and Policy Group, responsible for the legal work on supervision and regulation of banking organizations and the review/management of banking applications. (Treasury's own bios describe this as her position immediately before rejoining Treasury in 2021; they do not state a total length of Fed service.)¹⁴

Role in the pandemic relief programs

Timing. Schaffer's appointment as Principal Deputy General Counsel was announced on Feb 3, 2021. That was after the Trump-I General Counsel (Brian Callanan) departed in January 2021, and roughly ten months after the CARES Act (Mar 27, 2020) and the spring-2020 standup of PPP and the Title IV/ESF facilities. Her documented relief role is therefore the 2021 oversight phase. Any individual involvement in the 2020 design/standup of PPP or the §4003 facilities is not documented.¹⁶
The SIGPR jurisdiction fight. As Treasury's Acting General Counsel, Schaffer was the named Treasury party to the dispute over how far SIGPR's oversight extended. Treasury's Office of the General Counsel (alongside the Treasury Inspector General) took the position that SIGPR's authority did not reach PPP, the Payroll Support Program (PSP), or the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF), and Treasury declined to give SIGPR access to certain "mission-critical" relief-program data.⁷⁸
The OLC opinion (Apr 29, 2021). DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel resolved the dispute in Treasury's favor. The opinion, addressed to "Laurie S. Schaffer, Acting General Counsel" of Treasury and to SIGPR Inspector General Brian D. Miller and signed by Deputy Assistant Attorney General Daniel L. Koffsky, held that SIGPR's jurisdiction "is limited to oversight of programs established under the Coronavirus Economic Stabilization Act of 2020" (CARES Act Title IV, Subtitle A: Treasury's direct loans and the equity backstops for the Federal Reserve §13(3) facilities). The practical effect was to place PPP, PSP, and CRF outside SIGPR's mandate. SIGPR IG Miller publicly objected that the result was "permanently reduced oversight."⁸³⁹¹⁰¹¹

Documents written or signed

DOJ/OLC opinion, "Authority of the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery to Oversee Programs Established Under the CARES Act," Apr 29, 2021. Schaffer is the named Treasury addressee/party (as Acting General Counsel). The opinion was authored by OLC (Koffsky).³⁹
Schaffer–Miller correspondence in the SIGPR record. Press reporting on the SIGPR Quarterly Report for the period ending Mar 31, 2021 describes a letter from Schaffer (then identified as Principal Deputy General Counsel) to IG Miller, dated Apr 27, 2021, arguing that SIGPR's oversight ran only to Treasury's direct loans and Federal Reserve–facility investments. The letter is referenced in that report and in press coverage.¹⁰¹²
Treasury Legal Division / Acting GC capacity. Beyond the SIGPR matter, no individually-signed PPP or §4003 Federal Register rule has been located bearing her name; the 2020 PPP/§4003 rulemaking predates her tenure and, in any case, Federal Register relief notices are not bylined to the GC. ⁶³
As Acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions (2024), she delivered public remarks (e.g., at the Geneva Association's PROGRES seminar, Sept 2024).¹³

Career after / where they are now

Acting General Counsel → later Acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions. After her 2021 stint as Acting General Counsel, Schaffer continued at Treasury. A Federal Register notice of September 28, 2023 still lists her as Principal Deputy General Counsel; by September 2024 she was Acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions, and an October 16, 2024 notice lists her as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions.¹³²¹⁴
Departure from Treasury OGC. LegiStorm records her Treasury Office of the General Counsel service as ending in Jan 2025; the Federal Register places her in Financial Institutions by October 2024.²¹⁴

Sources held in this archive

Original source documents and archived captures

Sources (first-party)

U.S. Department of the Treasury press release, "Treasury Announces Appointment of Several Members of Staff," Feb 3, 2021 — announces Laurie Schaffer as Principal Deputy General Counsel, Office of the General Counsel; gives her Federal Reserve Deputy GC background, 2008–2011 Treasury Assistant GC for Banking and Finance role and Dodd-Frank work, and Fordham Law / American University education — ^jy0020: U.S. Department of the Treasury press release, "Treasury Announces Appointment of Several Members of Staff,"... (original: home.treasury.gov · stored capture) ↩
LegiStorm biography, "Laurie Stephanie Schaffer" — lists "U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of the General Counsel (Feb. 2021–Jan. 2025), Principal Deputy General Counsel" (secondary; used to corroborate her OGC start/end dates and middle name) — ^legistorm: LegiStorm biography, "Laurie Stephanie Schaffer" — lists "U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of the... (original: legistorm.com · stored capture) ↩
DOJ Office of Legal Counsel, "Authority of the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery to Oversee Programs Established Under the CARES Act," Date of Issuance Apr 29, 2021 — headnote: "The jurisdiction of the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery is limited to oversight of programs established under the Coronavirus Economic Stabilization Act of 2020." Addressed to Laurie S. Schaffer (Acting General Counsel, Treasury) and Brian D. Miller (SIGPR); signed by Daniel L. Koffsky, Deputy AAG — ^olcdoc: DOJ Office of Legal Counsel, "Authority of the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery to Oversee Pr... (original: justice.gov · stored capture) ↩
Treasury-issued biography, "Laurie S. Schaffer, Acting General Counsel, U.S. Department of the Treasury" (PDF; file timestamp July 28, 2021) — describes her as chief legal officer and head of the Treasury Legal Division and repeats the Fed/Treasury/Dodd-Frank background and education — Laurie Schaffer Bio B4532B18779C5047 (original: static1.squarespace.com · stored capture) ↩
OPM Salary Table No. 2021-ES / January 2021 Pay Adjustments — 2021 SES base range $132,552 (min) to $199,300 (max, certified system) / $183,300 (uncertified) — Es Pdf A1085Ab1Baa90860 (original: opm.gov · stored capture) and January 2021 Pay Adjustments 01 01 2021 508 0 Pdf Db249c7062758aa7 (original: opm.gov · stored capture) ↩
Project profile, Brian Callanan (Treasury General Counsel through Jan 20, 2021) — establishes that the political GC seat turned over at the end of the Trump-I administration, immediately before Schaffer's Feb 2021 appointment ↩
Banking Dive, "Special inspector general stripped of PPP oversight" (secondary; for the OGC/IG access dispute and OLC outcome) — ^bankingdive: Banking Dive, "Special inspector general stripped of PPP oversight" secondary; for the OGC/IG access di... (original: bankingdive.com · stored capture) ↩
CNN Politics, "Government pandemic watchdog warns of 'reduced oversight' for pandemic relief programs," May 1, 2021 (secondary; SIGPR access dispute and Miller's "reduced oversight" warning) — ^cnn: CNN Politics, "Government pandemic watchdog warns of 'reduced oversight' for pandemic relief programs," May 1,... (original: cnn.com · stored capture) ↩
OLC opinion PDF (2021-04-29-sigpr-auth.pdf) — Dl 07E932183077A7F3 (original: justice.gov · stored capture) ↩
SIGPR, Quarterly Report to the United States Congress (period ending Mar 31, 2021), oversight.gov — contains/references the Treasury–SIGPR jurisdiction correspondence (Schaffer ↔ Miller) and the OLC opinion — Sigpr Quarterly Report Congress March 31 2021 (original: oversight.gov · stored capture) ↩
PRAC Chair Michael E. Horowitz, "Statement on OLC Opinion on Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery Oversight Jurisdiction," pandemicoversight.gov (Apr 2021) — first-party reaction confirming the OLC opinion narrowed SIGPR's jurisdiction — ^praC: PRAC Chair Michael E. Horowitz, "Statement on OLC Opinion on Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery O... (original: pandemicoversight.gov · stored capture) ↩
Government Executive, "Watchdog Alleges 'Turf Battles' Over Pandemic Oversight," May 2021 (secondary; describes the Schaffer Apr 27, 2021 letter to Miller as reproduced in the SIGPR quarterly report) — ^govexec: Government Executive, "Watchdog Alleges 'Turf Battles' Over Pandemic Oversight," May 2021 secondary; descri... (original: govexec.com · stored capture) ↩
Treasury press release, "Remarks by Acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Laurie Schaffer at The Geneva Association's PROGRES Seminar 2024," Sept 2024 — first-party confirmation of her later Acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions role — ^jy2583: Treasury press release, "Remarks by Acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Laurie Schaffer at... (original: home.treasury.gov · stored capture) ↩
Department of the Treasury, "Senior Executive Service; Performance Review Boards," Federal Register, Sept. 28, 2023 (FR Doc. 2023-21197; lists "Laurie Schaffer, Principal Deputy General Counsel"); and "Senior Executive Service Performance Review Boards," Oct. 16, 2024 (FR Doc. 2024-23832; lists "Laurie Schaffer, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions"). ↩