After months of waiting, Neil Barofsky, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), will finally be given the resources and authority he needs to keep a close watch on the bailout.
This afternoon the House passed the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program Act of 2009 by a vote of 423-0. The bill, which was originally introduced in the Senate by Claire McCaskill (D-MO), clarifies Barofsky's authority to investigate a wide range of expenditures under the ever-changing TARP. It also gives him the authority to quickly hire new employees and retired government auditors (as we recommended in our recently released IG accountability report).
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