Politics

Vitter Holds Bernanke Hostage to Fed Transparency

By Sunlight Foundation & Participatory Politics Foundation

Five senators now have “holds” on the confirmation of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. The five could seriously slow the confirmation process down, but it’s still probably not enough to prevent it from eventually going through. One of the senators with a hold, Sen. David Vitter [R, LA], wants to use the leverage they have to force a vote on Federal Reserve transparency legislation, The Hill reports.

“Before we even think about moving ahead with Mr. Bernanke?s nomination, we should allow the Federal Reserve Sunshine Act to be discussed and debated on the floor of the Senate,? Vitter said yesterday. ?We cannot prevent future failures by the Fed until we determine exactly how it operates.”

Learn more about the Senate’s Fed transparency bill here:

S. 604 – Federal Reserve Sunshine Act of 2009

Full post as published by Open Congress on December 04, 2009 (boomark / email).