Sponsors (47)
The bill forces a near-term GAO audit to increase transparency and produce reform recommendations for the Federal Reserve, but that transparency risks exposing sensitive supervisory information, weakening confidentiality protections, and imposing administrative costs on the Fed and financial institutions.
Taxpayers and Congress will get an independent GAO audit of the Federal Reserve within 12 months that increases transparency and provides findings and recommendations to inform legislative or administrative reforms.
Financial institutions and taxpayers will face clarified and updated statutory cross-references and definitions that reduce legal ambiguity about which Fed programs are reportable or auditable, making oversight more predictable.
Financial institutions and taxpayers could suffer market disruption if the audit discloses sensitive supervisory or market information broadly.
Financial institutions and the Federal Reserve will incur substantial administrative burdens and compliance costs to support an expedited, broad audit, potentially diverting resources from other functions.
Financial institutions' confidentiality protections may be weakened because the audit mandate could override existing legal limits on confidential supervisory information.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires a GAO audit of the Federal Reserve Board and Reserve Banks within 12 months, changes related audit law, and updates Federal Reserve reporting definitions for certain emergency facilities.
Introduced January 3, 2025 by Thomas Massie · Last progress January 3, 2025
Requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to audit the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Reserve Banks and deliver a report to Congress, overriding existing statutory restrictions that have limited such audits. It also amends federal audit law and the Federal Reserve Act to change which Reserve programs and facilities are defined as subject to audit and to adjust related reporting cross-references.