Federal Reserve Accountability Act of 2022
This bill reduces the number of Federal Reserve districts from 12 to 5, requires Senate confirmation for Federal Reserve bank presidents, and makes other changes to the operation of the Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve banks.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5341 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5341
To amend the Federal Reserve Act to provide greater accountability to
the Federal Reserve System, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 21, 2022
Mr. Toomey (for himself, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Hagerty, Mr. Lee,
Ms. Lummis, and Mr. Tillis) introduced the following bill; which was
read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Federal Reserve Act to provide greater accountability to
the Federal Reserve System, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Reserve Accountability Act
of 2022''.
SEC. 2. APPOINTMENT OF GENERAL COUNSEL.
Subsection (l) of section 11 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C.
248) is amended by inserting ``The President shall appoint a general
counsel for the Board, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate. Sections 3345 through 3349b of title 5, United States Code,
shall not apply to the general counsel.'' after the period at the end
of the first sentence.
SEC. 3. APPOINTMENT OF FEDERAL RESERVE BANK PRESIDENTS.
(a) In General.--The fifth paragraph of the fourth unenumerated
paragraph of section 4 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 341) is
amended--
(1) in the first sentence, by striking ``president, vice
presidents,'' and inserting ``vice presidents'';
(2) in the second sentence, by striking ``Class B and Class
C directors of the bank, with the approval of the Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System, for a term of 5
years'' and inserting ``President of the United States (by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate) for a term of 5
years'';
(3) by striking the third sentence and inserting ``The
first vice president of the bank shall be appointed by the
Class B and Class C board of directors of the bank for a term
of 5 years, and shall, in the absence or disability of the
president or during a vacancy in the office of the president,
serve as chief executive officer of the bank, until a nominee
for president is confirmed by the Senate or the President of
the United States appoints an acting president under sections
3345 through 3349b of title 5, United States Code.'';
(4) in the fourth sentence, by striking ``the president
or'';
(5) by inserting ``A president may continue to serve after
the expiration of the term of office to which the president was
appointed until the earlier of the date on which a successor
has been appointed and qualified, the date on which the next
session of Congress subsequent to the expiration of such term
expires, or the date on which the President of the United
States removes the president. No appointed president shall
serve more than a total of 10 years, not including any such
continuation in service.'' after the period at the end of the
fourth sentence; and
(6) by inserting ``The president shall have their primary
residence and principal place of business located in that
Federal Reserve district for not fewer than 4 years before the
date on which the President nominates the individual to be
president of the Federal Reserve bank for that Federal Reserve
district.'' after the period at the end of the fifth sentence,
as added by paragraph (5) of this subsection.
(b) Suspension or Removal of Officers.--Section 11(f) of the
Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 248(f)) is amended by inserting
``(except the president)'' after ``reserve bank''.
(c) Applicability.--Sections 3345 through 3349b of title 5, United
States Code, shall apply to presidents of Federal Reserve banks in the
same manner as officers of Executive agencies.
SEC. 4. FEDERAL RESERVE DISTRICTS.
(a) In General.--Section 2 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C.
222) is amended by striking the first undesignated paragraph and
inserting the following:
``The continental United States shall be divided into 5 Federal
Reserve districts. The First Federal Reserve District shall be composed
of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands, with
the city of New York, New York, as the location of the Federal Reserve
bank. The Second Federal Reserve District shall be composed of Ohio,
West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky,
Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the District of Columbia, with the
city of Cleveland, Ohio, as the location of the Federal Reserve bank.
The Third Federal Reserve District shall be composed of Missouri,
Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota,
South Dakota, and Montana, with the city of Kansas City, Missouri, as
the location of the Federal Reserve bank. The Fourth Federal Reserve
District shall be composed of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi,
Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Florida, with the city of Dallas, Texas, as the location of the Federal
Reserve bank. The Fifth Federal Reserve District shall be composed of
California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Utah,
Arizona, New Mexico, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana
Islands, with the city of San Francisco, California, as the location of
the Federal Reserve bank. Every national bank in any State shall, upon
commencing business, become a member bank of the Federal Reserve System
by subscribing and paying for stock in the Federal Reserve bank of its
district in accordance with the provisions of this Act and shall
thereupon be an insured bank under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act,
and failure to do so shall subject such bank to the penalty provided by
the sixth paragraph of this section.''.
(b) Federal Open Market Committee.--Section 12A of the Federal
Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 263) is amended by striking subsection (a) and
inserting the following:
``(a) There is hereby created a Federal Open Market Committee
(hereinafter referred to as the `Committee'), which shall consist of
the members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and
the chief executive officers of the 5 Federal Reserve banks.''.
(c) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Section 11 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 248)
is amended by striking subsection (e).
(2) Section 16 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 413)
is amended, in the third sentence, by striking ``twelve'' and
inserting ``5''.
SEC. 5. BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM.
Section 10 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 241) is amended--
(1) in the second sentence, by striking ``one of whom shall
be selected from'' and inserting ``2 of whom may be residents
of''; and
(2) by inserting ``In this paragraph, the term `resident of
any one Federal Reserve district' means an individual whose
primary residence and principal place of business has been
located in a Federal Reserve district for not fewer than 4
years before the date on which the President nominates the
individual as a member of the Board.'' after the period at the
end of the fourth sentence.
SEC. 6. LOBBYING WITH MONEYS.
The Federal Reserve Act is amended by inserting after section 15
(12 U.S.C. 391 et seq.) the following:
``SEC. 15A. LOBBYING WITH MONEYS.
``No part of the income, interest, fees, money, or other funds of
the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or any Federal
Reserve bank shall, in the absence of express authorization by
Congress, be used directly or indirectly to pay for any personal
service, advertisement, telegram, telephone, letter, printed or written
matter, or other device, intended or designed to influence in any
manner a Member of Congress, a jurisdiction, or an official of any
government, to favor, adopt, or oppose, by vote or otherwise, any
legislation, law, ratification, policy, or appropriation, whether
before or after the introduction of any bill, measure, or resolution
proposing such legislation, law, ratification, policy, or
appropriation; but this shall not prevent officers or employees of the
Federal Reserve System from communicating to any such Member or
official, at his request, or to Congress or such official, through the
proper official channels, requests for any legislation, law,
ratification, policy, or appropriations which they deem necessary for
the efficient conduct of the public business, or from making any
communication whose prohibition by this section might, in the opinion
of the Attorney General, violate the Constitution or interfere with the
conduct of foreign policy, counter-intelligence, intelligence, or
national security activities. Violations of this section shall
constitute violations of section 1352(a) of title 31, United States
Code.''.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
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