By Victorial McGrane and Michael R. Crittenden

The Senate adopted an amendment Tuesday to the financial-overhaul bill that would boost transparency of the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending actions during the financial crisis.

Lawmakers voted 96-0 to incorporate the modified amendment offered by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), who scaled back his original language last week to overcome White House objections.

“This amendment begins the process of lifting the veil of secrecy of perhaps the most powerful federal agency,” Mr. Sanders said at a news conference after the vote. Once the audit is completed, Mr. Sanders said he hopes it will unveil so many “back-room deals” that people will push for even more disclosure.

Directly after the Sanders amendment vote, the Senate rejected, 62-37, an amendment by Sen. David Vitter (R., La.) that contained Mr. Sanders’ original language. The Vitter measure went further than the modified Mr. Sanders measure in the audit powers given to the federal government, including allowing for ongoing audits.

The new Sanders amendment, for instance, would explicitly bar the Government Accountability Office from auditing day-to-day discount window operations and interest-rate decisions, while the Vitter language didn’t.

Continue reading Senate Passes Amendment For One-time Audit of Fed