Under the bill, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) would be given access “to any information, data, schedules, books, accounts, financial records, reports, files, electronic communications, or other papers, things, or property belonging to or in use by the TARP.”

In a statement, Grassley explains the rationale behind the proposal:

In the bill that established the $700 billion rescue operation, Congress said the GAO had to conduct a regular review of how things were going, but Congress didn’t make sure the GAO would have access to the kinds of information it needs to really assess how the money is being used and the effectiveness of how the money is distributed.  This bill would close that gap and enable the GAO to conduct a more thorough review.

The House passed a TARP oversight and reform bill earlier this month, but Senate Democrats never considered it. Instead, upper-chamber leaders decided that a three-page letter of promises from the Obama administration would suffice. (Baucus and Grassley have just weighed in that they disagree.)

The Senate released the second $350 billion of bailout funding at Obama’s request this month.

Referring to a House proposal — sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) — that would attach strict guidelines to the Treasury Department’s spending under the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), Hoyer reiterated what some of his colleagues have said in recent days: The proposal is good but unnecessary; we trust the Obama team to spend the cash wisely. From the transcript:

I think we will pass it in the House. But if the Senate for some reason doesn’t pass it, it is my understanding that Mr. Frank has been in extensive discussions with the Obama transition team. And the Obama transition team has been involved in the provisions in this oversight bill, the TARP oversight bill. And it is my belief that in the event it doesn’t pass, that the administration is very likely to indicate that it intends to follow the provisions relatively closely. I don’t mean that they have absolutely agreed on it.

Meet the new congressional oversight.