At the end of last week, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., called for the resignation of Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell.
“The only announcement that Jay Powell should be making today is his resignation, effective immediately. His gross mismanagement of the Federal Reserve has stolen the American Dream from millions of families and caused massive damage to our economy,” Scott said.
Scott has grown increasingly active in taking aim at the Federal Reserve. Last month, he introduced three bills “aimed at forcing accountability on the Federal Reserve, ending its bad practices that have cost Americans more than $1 trillion, and reining in the agency’s out-of-control, $8.3 trillion balance sheet.”
Scott offered some of the reasons why he introduced the proposals.
“ This package includes the Regular Order for Investments (ROI) of the Federal Reserve Act to end the Fed’s bad practices and force the Fed to consider the impact of its decisions on hard-working American families so this never happens again; the Right-Size the Federal Reserve Act to ensure an unwinding of the Fed’s massive balance sheet by mandating that it remain at or below 10 percent of U.S. GDP; and the Rein in the Federal Reserve Act to interject much-needed scrutiny and accountability of the Fed’s actions by establishing a statutory process for more strict oversight by Congress,” Scott’s office noted.
“The lack of accountability and guardrails at the Federal Reserve have allowed the agency to make bad decisions with no consequences, growing its balance sheet to an unsustainable $8.3 trillion, making the Fed the largest agency, financially. Under Chair Powell’s leadership, the Fed has lost $1.3 trillion of your money just last year. It’s time for this insanity to stop. Hardworking American families shouldn’t be worried about the Federal Reserve making risky decisions that waste their hard-earned tax dollars. We cannot allow Americans to be forced to endure continued failures at the Federal Reserve any longer. This legislative package puts forward comprehensive reforms to rein in the Federal Reserve, better protect taxpayer money and make sure the Fed is truly accountable to Congress and the American people,” Scott said.
Scott introduced the “Rein in the Federal Reserve Act” which “interjects much needed scrutiny and accountability of the Federal Reserve’s actions by establishing a statutory process for actual oversight of the Federal Reserve.” Scott also brought out the “Regular Order for Investments (ROI) of the Federal Reserve Act” which “ends the corrupted financial practices of the Federal Reserve” by having the Federal Reserve System “comply with Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP) like every other bank and business operating in the United States” and through other reforms. Finally, Scott also introduced the “Right-Size the Federal Reserve Act” which caps “the size of the Federal Reserve System’s balance sheet at 10 percent of US GDP.”
Earlier in the year, introduced a proposal “to require a presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed inspector general to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.”
Scott’s office pointed to recent bank failures as one of the reasons he was championing the proposal.
“Following this month’s shocking failures of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank, and the Federal Reserve’s gross mismanagement and lack of oversight to prevent the situation, this bill will bring the serious changes and accountability at the Federal Reserve that is clearly overdue and necessary to protect American families and workers,” Scott’s office noted.
Scott weighed in on the bill and thanked U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who was co-sponsoring the proposal.
“After the Federal Reserve’s failure to properly identify and prevent the shocking failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, it’s clear we can’t wait any longer for big change at the Fed. It’s outrageous that the Federal Reserve, the world’s largest and most powerful central bank, does not have a truly independent inspector general to investigate it – an independent authority to fight for the transparency and accountability our citizens need. Our legislation fixes that by establishing a presidentially-appointed, Senate-confirmed inspector general at the Fed, like every other major government agency. Consumers and American families must not bear the brunt of the failures of gross mismanagement and greed at their banks or the incompetence and misdeeds of the government regulators who are there to protect them. I want to thank Senator Warren for joining me on this good bill. This is commonsense and should have the bipartisan support of our colleagues so that it can quickly pass and become law,” said Scott.
“The recent bank collapses and regulatory failures by the Fed have underscored the urgent need for a truly independent Inspector General to hold Fed officials accountable for any lapses or wrongdoing. Last year, during the largest ethics scandal in the history of the Federal Reserve System, I led a bipartisan bill to bolster accountability at the Fed and I appreciate Senator Scott’s work to advance this effort,” said Warren.
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