Empty Seat

Perhaps the most important oversight provision in the Wall Street Bailout bill was the creation of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Assets Relief Program (SIGTARP).

But don't breathe a sigh of relief yet, because there are a few problems with it.

The first is that the SIGTARP was created as a Presidential appointment with Senate confirmation.  It's generally a good idea for the Senate to be involved in screening and examining appointments, but in this case, we think the urgency of getting this office up and running quickly should trump the typical confirmation process.

The second problem is that the office is not authorized to use exemptions created for temporary agencies that allow the hiring of staff quickly outside the civil service system, as was done by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.  So as things stand now, there will likely be months that pass (and billions spent through the TARP program) before the IG office is up and running.

Oh yeah, and then there's the small problem that the White House hasn't nominated anyone for the SIGTARP position yet.

The Senate will be in session next week, and all of these problems can be fixed quickly, but both the White House and the Senate need to get their act together quickly.

-- Danielle Brian