Legislation clarifying who among the Federal Reserve’s leaders testifies before Congress on the central bank’s supervisory efforts passed the House Monday on a voice vote; it now heads to the Senate.
H.R. 974, the Federal Reserve Testimony Clarification Act, clarifies that the Fed Board vice chairman for supervision (now Randal Quarles, the first person to every occupy the seat since created in 2010), is required to provide testimony along with his appearance before the House Finanical Services Committee.
In the event the position of vice chairman is vacant, the bill makes clear that the Fed Board chair (currently Jerome H. (“Jay”) Powell) will appear and provide testimony on supervision and regulation efforts.
A similar bill was considered in the last Congress, and passed the House.
“I think it makes good sense to codify who at the Board will testify before Congress on the status of the Fed’s supervisory efforts, regardless of whether there is a person confirmed for the Vice Chair for Supervision or not,” said House Financial Services Committee Chairman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) in a floor statement. “When Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, it created the position of Vice Chair for Supervision so that there was one Fed Board Governor who was responsible for ensuring robust rules for the nation’s largest financial institutions.
“We now have a Vice Chairman for Supervision at the Fed but the position had previously been vacant since its creation in 2010, so it is helpful to clarify how Congress will continue to be informed about developments at the Fed,” Waters added.
H.R.974 – Federal Reserve Supervision Testimony Clarification Act