Who is responsible for TARP oversight?

The House Ways and Means Committee met today to discuss oversight of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), a program which altogether will commit almost 3 trillion dollars in assistance to failing private companies. The lack of oversight of this program has become apparent with recent bonuses paid to executives of large corporations such as AIG. Two witnesses testified: Neil Barofsky, Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), and Gene Dodaro, Acting Comptroller General of the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Three officers from the Treasury were invited, but were not in attendance.

In his opening remarks, Congressman Reichert (R-WA) summarized TARP’s problematic nature, “There is no clear plan and no consistent application of the program. Those involved have no idea if, how, or when TARP will change... or change again.... The complete lack of transparency in TARP has produced a credibility crisis that undermines the very confidence it was meant to restore.” Reichert went on to outline two points which must be clarified in order to restore confidence in TARP: “(1) exactly how TARP money is being spent and (2) what specific metrics Treasury will use to measure the effectiveness of the program.”

Barofsky explained the responsibilities of SIGTARP, “To oversee this vast amount of money for the American taxpayer, I focus on three different areas: transparency, oversight, and enforcement.” In December, he requested that the Treasury put all TARP agreements on its website; the top 20 agreements were finally posted by the Treasury this morning. SIGTARP is the only oversight body which has the authority for criminal law enforcement. Of this responsibility, Barofsky stated, “This is one of our most important functions and we are meeting this unprecedented challenge head-on... When we detect fraud, rest assured, we will investigate the matter and bring any fraudster to justice.”

Dodaro presented the results to the Committee of both 60 day reports which the Government Accountability Office has produced since TARP’s inception. Each report gave recommendations to the Treasury, Dodaro explained. “First, monitoring and tracking the use of the money and making sure Treasury had an oversight process in place to monitor compliance with the legislative provisions... We believe you ought to have data collected on a monthly basis for any institution receiving Troubled Asset Relief Programs. And they’re beginning to now, recently, move in that direction.”

When asked if their agencies have the resources necessary to be effective, Barofsky responded, “We’re building. We don’t have the necessary resources yet. Pending right now in the House is HR 1341 which would give us some expanded hiring authority which will help us... We’ve had some serious challenges.”

Congressman Pascrell (D-NJ) expressed frustration with the Treasury Department. “I am deeply disappointed that the Treasury Secretary right now, Mr. Geithner, has not taken a more aggressive approach to remedy the mismanagement of these TARP funds by the last administration. And I’m stunned by the current Treasury and I’m offended by their obstinacy and the fact that they’re not here today, when they were requested to be here three times.”

Barofsky announced a plan to audit the Treasury to find out precisely “who knew what when and why” regarding AIG’s use of TARP funds. As of this morning, neither Barofsky nor Dodaro could say whom, if anyone, in the Treasury was aware of AIG’s misuse of this money.

America ‘muddling through’ Iraq

A new strategy in Iraq needs to be developed, according to a recent progress report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

When House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) referred to a “what’s next” question he posed to General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker in April, he said he was dissatisfied with the answer. Skelton noted that the ‘New Way Forward’ strategy was coming to an end with the departure of the Surge brigades from Iraq and said he was in favor of a change in approach. Skelton seemed frustrated with the Administration’s lack of foresight in developing a new strategy in advance of the end of the ‘New Way Forward.’ He said that America now has to ‘muddle through’ Iraq and decide if strategic changes should be made now or later when the strategies might be obsolete.

Gene Dodaro, acting comptroller general of the U.S. at the GAO, said a new strategy is necessary because the U.S. is currently committing a lot of resources and troops should be pulled out. Dodaro advised America to adopt a ‘stewardship standpoint’ to help Iraq with its transition. Joseph Christoff, international affairs and trade director at the GAO, added that America needed to continue training and equipping Iraq security forces. Christoff added that Iraq should use more of its oil revenue toward rebuilding and restructuring their country.

Despite his call for a new strategy, Dodaro provided some optimistic statistics regarding Iraq’s security. He said that violence, as measured by enemy-initiated attacks, has decreased by 80 percent and that the number of trained Iraqi security forces have increased substantially. With regards to the legislative area, Dodaro said that Iraq has enacted key legislation to return Ba’athists to government, grant amnesty to detained Iraqis and define provincial powers. Dodaro continued to describe Iraq’s economy and infrastructure. He said that Iraq only spent 24 percent of the $27 billion budgeted for reconstruction efforts and the average crude oil production capacity of 2.5 million barrels per day fell short of the U.S. goal of 3 million barrels per day.