Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and his Senate Banking Committee Republican colleagues blasted the Federal Reserve (the Fed) after discovering it is in possession of documents that Banking Committee Republicans specifically requested six months ago.
Last week, it was revealed that the Fed does in fact have documents related to former Fed Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin’s involvement in helping secure a Fed master account for financial technology (fintech) company Reserve Trust. According to Bloomberg, on July 29, the Fed responded to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the American Accountability Foundation (AAF) and revealed that it has records relating to Ms. Raskin and Reserve Trust.
“These documents were directly relevant to our constitutional responsibility to evaluate Ms. Raskin’s nomination to serve as Fed Vice Chair for Supervision. They also are directly relevant to ongoing congressional oversight of the Fed’s approach to master account applications. The Fed’s failure to turn over these documents to the Committee, or even notify senators that they exist, has impeded the Senate’s ability to perform two of its core functions,” wrote the senators.
As the senators point out in the letter, the Federal Reserve not only failed to turn over a single document to the Committee, but it also failed to notify the Committee that it was in possession of such documents.
“While AAF has at least received an answer from the Fed, to this day, the Fed has not only failed to provide a single document to the Committee, but it has refused to even notify senators that such documents exist. The fact that the Fed has been more responsive to an outside non-profit group than it has to members of the Senate committee that directly oversees it is outrageous,” continued the senators.
Banking Republicans said the Federal Reserve’s lack of transparency and accountability to Congress further highlights the need to reform the Federal Reserve and the regional Federal Reserve banks to make them more transparent and accountable to Congress.
“Unfortunately, obstructionism has become too common a response from the Fed and regional Fed banks—which, after all, are creatures of Congress—to congressional oversight inquiries from members in both parties. In this case, the harm of that obstructionism was magnified because it also impeded the Senate’s constitutional responsibility to evaluate a presidential nomination. In light of this persistent refusal to comply with reasonable requests for information, we have no choice but to pursue legislation that will compel these public institutions to be more transparent and accountable to Congress,” concluded the senators.
Click here to read the letter.