§225b Appearances before and reports to the Congress

Summary

The Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board must appear before Congress twice a year to talk about how the Board and the Federal Open Market Committee are handling monetary policy and to review economic trends and the outlook. The Chairman must meet the House Banking Committee about February 20 in even-numbered years and about July 20 in odd-numbered years, and must meet the Senate Banking Committee about July 20 in even-numbered years and about February 20 in odd-numbered years. The Chairman must also appear before the other committee if that committee asks after the scheduled appearance. At each hearing the Board must give both committees a written report on monetary policy and the economy. The report must cover past and likely future changes in employment, unemployment, production, investment, real income, productivity, exchange rates, international trade and payments, and prices. The Board must also put an "Audit" link on its website that leads to a public page kept at least 6 months with items like Comptroller General reports under 31 U.S.C. 714, the Board’s audited annual financial statements under 12 U.S.C. 248b, reports on emergency lending required under section 343(3), and other information the Board thinks helps the public understand its accounting and controls.