Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) this week unveiled a bipartisan bill that would subject regional Federal Reserve banks to the Freedom of Information Act. Doing so would require them to respond to congressional information requests, align the Fed with other large agencies by making its inspector general a presidential appointee and prohibit all financial regulatory agencies from denying congressional requests for ethics-related information.
The bill stipulated that regional banks may continue to withhold sensitive information related to monetary policy, confidential supervisory information and personnel medical files. However, the bill would grant a specified group of Senate Banking and House Financial Services committee members the ability to access CSI and personnel files on a confidential basis.