WASHINGTON, D.C.—In case you missed it, Senator Rick Scott wrote an op-ed for Market Watch sharing his new bill calling for an independent inspector general at the Federal Reserve. Read more about Senator Scott’s legislation HERE.

In the op-ed, Senator Rick Scott wrote, “The Federal Reserve has become a monster. 

The Fed is the world’s largest and most powerful central bank. It spent years buying up trillions in government bonds, mortgage securities, and other financial instruments. Altogether, its assets add up to a staggering $8.6 trillion. 

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When the Inspector General Act was passed in 1978, the Federal Reserve was a shadow of what it is now. Maybe that’s why the Fed was allowed to get away with appointing its own inspector general, who reports to the Fed’s board. That sets it apart from the more than 30 federal agencies that have truly independent IGs appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Can anyone make a good argument for why the Federal Reserve doesn’t have that level of oversight? I haven’t heard one yet.

Thankfully, oversight isn’t a partisan issue, but when I announced my new bill last month with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, to put an independent IG at the Fed it shocked the heck out of hyper-partisan Washington.

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The Fed’s trillions aren’t its only problem. It’s supposed to oversee banks, but Silicon Valley Bank failed on its watch. It’s clear that we need answers and accountability that cannot be provided by the current system.

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Having little to no accountability at the Fed is not acceptable and has proven to have disastrous consequences. If we do nothing, we risk repeating 2008, when the federal government failed to do its job, no one at the Fed was held accountable, and no changes were made there.

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For years, Powell has horribly mismanaged the Federal Reserve. I’ve been calling on the Fed to scale down its massive balance sheet after years of maxing out its ability to purchase treasuries and mortgage backed securities. Neither Powell nor any member of the Fed Board has been able to explain the rationale for a nearly $9 trillion balance sheet. 

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We can’t wait any longer for big change at the Fed. 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. It’s time for Congress to stand up and demand accountability.”

Read the full op-ed in Market Watch HERE.

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