WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Rick Scott spoke on the Senate floor calling for unanimous passage of his bipartisan legislation to require a presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed Inspector General (IG) to the Federal Reserve to bring much-needed accountability to the Fed.

This follows numerous efforts by Senator Scott to hold the Federal Reserve accountable through various legislative initiatives including a legislative package containing his: Regular Order For Investments (ROI) of the Federal Reserve Act, Right Size the Federal Reserve Act, and Rein in the Federal Reserve Act. Senator Scott has previously called for accountability at the Federal Reserve in a letter to Chairman Powell discussing the need to hold Fed employees accountable amid numerous ethics concerns, allegations of insider trading, and bank failures. Earlier this year, Senator Scott also wrote an op-ed in Fox News, further exposing Jay Powell’s failures to American families as chair. Just this week, Senator Scott introduced another bill, the Fiscal Accountability for Interest on Reserves (FAIR) Act, which would stop the Fed from paying interest to banks on their reserve balances, a program that cost taxpayers $186 billion in 2024 alone and is projected to exceed $1 trillion over the next decade, and yesterday sent a letter to President Trump recommending certain criteria for the next chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Watch Senator Scott’s full remarks HERE or below:

“I rise today to talk about an issue of great national importance that affects every family in America.

We know the Federal Reserve has been wildly unaccountable for years under Jay Powell’s leadership.

Beyond his failed monetary policies leading to distorted markets and misallocated capital, Powell has also overseen regulatory failures and numerous reports of unethical practices among its own Members, all of which were overlooked and enabled by the Fed Board’s hand-picked Inspector General.

This malpractice and lack of transparency and accountability have seriously undermined confidence in our financial system.

We can work to address this and start repairing the broken trust of the American people today by passing my bill, which is simple: Establish an independent, Senate-confirmed Inspector General at the Federal Reserve.

Every other government agency has one. Surely the government’s largest agency should have one. It’s just common sense to establish a Senate-confirmed Inspector General at the Fed.

This Inspector General would finally be independent of the Fed board, who are the very people they are tasked with investigating in order to bring accountability to the Fed on behalf of the American people.  

This must happen now.

In recent years, we have seen hundreds of allegations of voting members of the Federal Reserve engaging in shady, unethical investment trades while in possession of insider information about the Fed.

We have seen the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and others.

We’ve seen a complete mismanagement of the Fed’s policies while a culture of corruption has thrived at the Fed; And we’re seeing billions in taxpayer dollars being spent to renovate the Federal Reserve Headquarters in D.C., all while the Fed is operating at a loss.

You might wonder, as I do, why no one gets fired or is held accountable, and why no changes have been made?

It is because Jay Powell is chair, and the Federal Reserve’s inspector general is appointed by and reports to Powell and the Fed board. Period.

It’s a clear conflict of interest, coupled with a perverse pay structure that enables issues to go unchecked and covered up for too long at the expense of the American people.

The American people want to know their Central Bank is doing the right thing. The Fed makes decisions that impact their lives and their livelihoods.

For families like mine growing up without much, the Fed’s choices can decide if they can afford their mortgages or put food on the table.

Families across our nation deserve a Federal Reserve that they trust is working in their best interests.

I would like to thank Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren and Senator Cynthia Lummis for working with me on this important bill.”

###