Sen. Rand Paul will get a vote on his legislation to audit the Federal Reserve.
The Kentucky senator and Republican presidential candidate announced Friday afternoon that the Senate would vote on his legislation on Jan. 12, thanks to an unusual parliamentary maneuver and an assist from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, his fellow Kentucky Republican.
“The Fed operating under a cloak of secrecy has gone on for far too long,” Paul said. “The American people have a right to know exactly how Washington is spending their money. The time to act is now.”
Paul’s legislation would remove existing exceptions on the Government Accountability Office’s ability to audit the Fed, effectively subjecting the central bank’s monetary policy deliberations to audits from the comptroller. The legislation is strongly opposed by Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen and most monetary economists, although it has the backing of prominent Republicans, including McConnell. Yellen and other Fed officials have argued that a monetary policy audit would subject the Fed to short-term political pressures, undermining its independence.
Paul currently ranks sixth in the Washington Examiner’s presidential power rankings.
In November, Paul used a little-known Senate maneuver, known as Rule 14, to bypass the normal procedure for legislation, including the process of committee approval, to place the legislation on the Senate calendar. On Friday, McConnell filed for cloture on the bill, meaning that the Senate will vote to cut off debate Jan. 12.
The vote will require 60 votes, meaning that Democrats will likely be able to stop the bill from proceeding.
Nevertheless, a vote on the Fed legislation will allow Paul to highlight his libertarian opposition to the Fed, a policy focus that sets him apart from the rest of the GOP field. It would also allow him to capitalize on lingering conservative concerns about the Fed’s recession-era emergency stimulus measures and its 2008 efforts to rescue failing banks.
Paul has criticized the Fed’s management of the money supply and its bailouts since taking office. His father, the Texas congressman Ron Paul, authored the book End the Fed.
In November the House of Representatives passed related legislation. The House bill, authored by Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., would require the Fed to spell out a rule describing its monetary policy, and to undergo a Government Accountability Office policy audit and testify before Congress when it deviated from that rule.
