The Senate has unanimously voted to audit the Federal Reserve for the first time. In a 96-to-zero vote, the Senate approved an amendment giving the Government Accountability Office expanded power to conduct a one-time audit of the Fed. The bill also requires the central bank to disclose details about the financial firms that received emergency aid during the financial crisis. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont authored the bill.

Sen. Bernie Sanders: “With the passage of this amendment, the American people are finally going to learn which large, powerful financial interests received trillions of dollars of zero or near-zero interest loans. Second of all, I think the average American is beginning to wonder what goes on behind the closed doors of the Fed. They wonder what happens when you have the Fed meeting with the heads of the largest financial institutions in this country and at the end of these meetings companies walk out with incredibly good deals.”

Last year the House approved a bill written by Republican Congressman Ron Paul giving the Government Accountability Office even greater power to regularly audit the Federal Reserve. On Tuesday Paul criticized the Sanders Senate amendment saying it guts the spirit of a truly meaningful audit of the Fed.