Senate Votes to Audit the Federal Reserve

The Senate voted 96 to 0 on Tuesday to compel the Federal Reserve Board to reveal recipients of its emergency lending programs during the financial crisis, but rejected a more sweeping alternative that would have audited all central bank actions including monetary policy. The compromise amendment from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), on emergency lending was adopted into the financial regulatory reform legislation that is still being debated. The amendment was significantly narrowed in scope - a previous Sanders amendment would have audited all Fed actions and could have extended into monetary policy decision-making activities - amid concerns from Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke that it would influence monetary policy making. "Last week a number of senators, Democrats and Republicans, indicated to me that they were uncomfortable with my original amendment, which they believed would have allowed Congress to be involved in the day-to-day monetary operations of the Fed," Sanders said on the Senate floor Tuesday. "That was never my intention and I still do not believe that the original amendment would have done that... Sen. Dodd indicated to me that if we could clarify this issue, he would not only be supportive of this amendment but he would co-sponsor it. That's exactly what he did and I very much appreciate his support."