U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) introduced legislation that would strengthen Federal Reserve accountability and ensure that no financial regulator can withhold ethics-related information from Congress.
The Financial Regulators Transparency Act would subject the regional Federal Reserve Banks to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and ensure their responsiveness to congressional information requests. In addition, it would align the Fed with other large agencies by making its Inspector General a presidential appointee. Finally, it would prohibit all financial regulatory agencies from denying congressional requests for ethics-related information.
“The Fed and regional Fed banks, despite being creatures of Congress, obstruct congressional oversight inquiries all too often,” Toomey said. “In light of this persistent refusal to comply with reasonable requests for information from both Republicans and Democrats, I’m glad to join with Senator Warren in pursuing reforms that will compel these public institutions to be more transparent and accountable to the American people.”
Further, the bill prevents financial regulators from charging a member of Congress fees to process their FOIA request and gives a member of Congress who has filed a FOIA request to bring a federal lawsuit against financial regulators to make them produce any record improperly withheld.
“During the largest ethics scandal in the history of the Federal Reserve System, Fed officials have stonewalled the American people and slow-walked their representatives in Congress,” Warren said. “This bipartisan bill is a necessary response to ensure that no financial regulators can ignore congressional oversight into ethics failures, and finally deliver more transparency and accountability for any wrongdoing.”