On the recordAugust 1, 2025
I rise to support commonsense legislation that will bring transparency and accountability to the Federal Reserve Board and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Currently, the inspector general of the Fed is appointed by the Fed Chair. This is highly unusual, and it means that the inspector general has no independence from the management of the Fed and is susceptible to influence. This is an unacceptable arrangement. I think we all agree that inspectors general cannot do their jobs without independence. Democrats who are objecting to this commonsense legislation today have made inspector general independence a priority for years, and rightfully so, until today. Think about that. Democrats are saying they are OK with being complicit in the mismanagement of the Fed that we are seeing today. We are witnessing unprecedented mismanagement of the Fed. The Fed overrun--and it was just discussed by my colleague from Ohio--it has overrun its budget for its building renovation by at least $700 million, and Chair Powell appointed the inspector general who is now tasked with examining this fiasco. Do we expect the Fed's inspector general to do anything other than immunize the Fed Chair from further scrutiny and say everything is on the up and up? I won't have any confidence in the Fed's IG and its findings until that person has statutory independence from the Fed Chair.
Source
govinfo.gov




