This is really interesting. A few days ago, Senator Chuck Grassley got an amendment passed by the Senate that lets the GAO audit the Fed’s lending to individual companies (such as Citigroup and Bank of America) and the Maiden Lane entities. The actual amendment in PDF form has a bunch of handwriting on it, because Grassley was clearly negotiating with fellow Senators (he says Shelby) about how far into the Fed the public would be allowed to peak. If you have a few minutes, I would read the text of the amendment and pay special attention to the handwritten sections on the last page, which show some last-minute negotiations: (PDF)
Here’s Grassley’s press release, which includes more information on the extent of the GAO’s authority.
The underlying bill has passed both the House and the Senate, but this section on the Fed is not in the House version, which means that it may be removed in the conference committee.
Ryan Grim has written up some of the politics:
Jane Hamsher has added a lot more detail about Dodd’s relationship with the Fed.
Interesting times.
