After $290 billion in TARP funds committed, President Bush and the Senate are just now getting around to installing the TARP Inspector General. Working quickly to confirm Bush's choice for Special Inspector General for TARP (SIGTARP), Neil M. Barofsky, the Senate Banking Committee got down to business and heard testimony from the nominee yesterday(BNA [$]):

Barofsky, testifying before the Senate Banking Committee, said that, if confirmed by the Senate, he will be calling on TARP contractors and asset managers to provide his office with "real-time information" to guard against misuse of public funds.

Barofsky also said he will review past TARP-related transactions, including contracts already reached between Treasury and private parties, and said his office will be vigilant in rooting out conflicts of interest.

"I think it will be a top priority, if I am confirmed, to make sure that there is strong and vigorous enforcement of the conflict of interest provisions and to make sure that those provisions are sufficient," Barofsky told Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.).

This is all very reassuring to hear, even if the nomination is way overdue.

Barofsky also told Sen. Robert Menendez (D—N.J.) that, under the EESA, he would, as Special Inspector General "would have full and complete access" to any documents held by the Treasury Department.

Any chance those documents make it to the public?

Meanwhile, Senators Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) have introduced legislation to ostensibly aimed at strengthening SIGTARP. Their bill "will allow the IG to quickly begin hiring staff without going thorough the normal civil service process" and "expand the authority of the IG to cover any and all action conducted as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, including assistance to homeowners and foreclosure mitigation efforts." (h/t POGO blog)

Reuters: "Quick approval sought for US bank bailout watchdog"
DowJones Newswire:"Dodd Pledges To Move Quickly On Confirmation Of TARP Inspector"

(AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)