By Eric Dubin
Senator Ted Cruz is backing Rand Paul’s demand for the passage of legilsation to audit the Federal Reserve. He released the following statement in advance of Janet Yellen’s Thursday hearing before the Senate Banking Committee:
“I agree with Rand Paul: before the Senate votes on whether to confirm Janet Yellen, we should at the very least allow a vote on the Audit the Fed bill. The Federal Reserve has expanded our money supply by trillions, benefitting Wall Street but making life harder for millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet. Never-ending quantitative easing threatens to undermine the dollar and to drive up prices on everyday goods from food to gasoline to the basic necessities of life. We need to bring transparency to the Fed, so the American people can understand the scope and consequences of its policies.”
How this issue is received by the mainstream faction of the Republican Party will be insightful. Members of the Tea Party Congressional Coalition along with traditional, Constitution-minded conservatives might come under renewed attack, as was seen during the Obamacare government shutdown debate. How the call for an audit of the Fed is treated this time around will be quite telling. Technically, if audit backers can get the support of the Senate Republican Conference, it would be possible to position the vote for an audit as a precondition to let the nomination move forward.
Earlier this year, the bill had 19 bipartisan co-sponsors in the Senate and well over 100 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives. During the 112th Congress, Audit the Fed legislation (H.R. 459) passed the House of Representatives 327 to 98.
