Reply #5: You mean Senator Sanders

[ProSense]

compromised, and it's a good thing?

In a briefing on Thursday, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Neal Wolin expressed concern that the amendment, authored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), would damage the independence of the Fed -- either in perception or practice. The administration has pushed a side amendment that Wolin said would accomplish the goals of Sander's proposal but would not bring politics into monetary policy.

"We oppose the Sanders amendment in its current form," Wolin said. "Transparency of Fed is critically important... But we also think it is important that the Federal Reserve board have independence. We think that countries that have had... the perception of political influence in their central banks have had real problems."

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Sanders' proposal is being offered as an amendment to a broader Wall Street reform bill being debated in the Senate. A vote on the amendment was possible late on Thursday.

Sanders modified the measure to limit congressional investigators to a single audit of the Fed's use of emergency lending authority since Dec. 1, 2007, a Sanders aide said. That closes the door to further audits, the aide said.

In addition, Sanders would give the Fed more time to comply with a requirement to disclose information about its role in the Wall Street bailouts during the crisis.

He would give the Fed until Dec. 1 to comply, instead of 30 days after enactment of the law if approved.

Senator Christopher Dodd, the Democratic chairman of the banking committee who is steering the Wall Street reform bill through the Senate, said he supports the modified measure.

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