Trump Presidency Energizes Push for ‘Audit the Fed’ Bill, Advocacy Group Says

A longtime but thus-far fruitless bid by congressional critics of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) to have the central bank audited is gaining momentum as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office, the advocacy group Campaign for Liberty’s Chairman Ron Paul said in a statement.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — According to Paul, the bill will make the conduct by the US Federal Reserve transparent.

“With a President who supports ‘Audit the Fed’ finally sitting in the White House, Congress has no excuse to not quickly pass this bill and finally let the American people know the truth about the Fed’s conduct on monetary policy, including its dealings with foreign governments and central banks,” Paul said on Wednesday.

As a member of the US House of Representatives, Paul first introduced an audit-the-Fed bill in response to the 2008 financial crisis that led to the Great Recession.

The bill stalled in the last four sessions of Congress and Paul, now retired as a lawmaker, has passed the legislative campaign to his son, US Senator Rand Paul, who introduced a new version of the legislation this week.

“My Campaign for Liberty is going to mobilize a pro-Audit the Fed majority to make 2017 the year when the Fed’s wall of secrecy is finally torn down,” the former congressman stated.

Paul explained that for more than a century, the Fed has exercised almost absolute and unquestioned authority over America’s monetary policy.

“As a result, the US economy has experienced repeated boom-and-bust cycles, increasing income inequality and the loss of 90 percent of the dollar’s purchasing power,” Paul stated.

Paul also noted Trump’s criticism of the Fed during the US presidential campaign, including the president-elect’s endorsement of past proposals to audit the US central bank.

The latest bill titled the Federal Reserve Transparency Act would require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to audit the Reserve's Board of Governors and banks within a year of the bill's passage.

 

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