US Congressman reintroduces bill to permanently shut down the Federal Reserve

Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY) reintroduced his bill to abolish the Federal Reserve on Thursday, calling the central bank the root cause of inflation and economic instability.

The legislation, known as H.R. 1846, the Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act, would dismantle the entire Fed system, including the Board of Governors and all 12 regional banks. If passed, the bill would wipe out the 1913 Federal Reserve Act, effectively erasing over a century of central banking in the United States.

Massie, who has been a longtime critic of the Fed, said the central bank devalues the dollar, enables reckless government spending, and causes inflation that hurts everyday Americans. “Americans have suffered under crippling inflation, and the Federal Reserve is to blame,” Massie said in his official statement.

He pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic when the Fed printed trillions of dollars and loaned them to the Treasury Department to fund record-high deficit spending. “By monetizing the debt, the Federal Reserve devalued the dollar and enabled free money policies that caused high inflation,” said Massie.

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) is leading a companion bill in the Senate, S. 869, which basically wants to accomplish the same goal. “The Federal Reserve has not only failed to achieve its mandate, it has become an economic manipulator,” Lee said according to Massie.

Lee added that: “We need to end the monetization of federal debt that fuels unchecked spending and put American money on solid ground.”

‘Audit the Fed’ goes viral as transparency demands grow

While pushing to abolish the Fed, Massie is also reviving an effort to force a full audit of the central bank. On January 3rd, he reintroduced H.R. 24, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2025, also known as “Audit the Fed.”

This bill would require the Comptroller General to conduct a full examination of the Board of Governors and Federal Reserve Banks, something the central bank has avoided for decades.

Massie argues that the Fed operates in secrecy, crafting monetary policies that devalue the dollar and make life harder for the middle class.

“The American public deserves more insight into the practices of the Federal Reserve,” Massie said. “Behind closed doors, the Fed crafts policies that slow economic growth while benefiting the wealthy and well-connected.”

Former Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) originally introduced “Audit the Fed” legislation in 2009, but it has failed to pass despite repeated attempts.

The Audit the Fed bill has gained strong support among libertarians, fiscal conservatives, and crypto lovers, who believe that the Fed’s unchecked power allows it to manipulate the economy without accountability.

Fed faces uncertainty as Michael Barr resigns

As Congress pushes for major changes to the Fed, the central bank is also dealing with internal drama right now. Michael Barr, the Vice Chair for Supervision, stepped down on March 3rd, leaving a major vacancy in the Committee on Supervision and Regulation.

The Vice Chair for Supervision role was created by former president Barack Obama under the Dodd-Frank Act after the 2008 financial crisis in efforts to “strengthen banking oversight.”

Barr’s resignation means that the committee now only has two members—Philip Jefferson and Michelle Bowman—leaving no clear leader for banking oversight, as Cryptopolitan reported. Back in January before the inauguration, Barr warned that staying in his role could lead to a political showdown with President Donald Trump. Rather than face that fight, he stepped down.

Now Trump will have to appoint a new Vice Chair from the existing board since the next vacancy doesn’t open until 2026, which is actually just how the president wants it. He is very publicly critical of the Fed, precisely chairman Jerome Powell who he has verbally attacked many times.

Elon’s D.O.G.E. cracks down on Fed’s 24,000 employees

The pressure on the Fed isn’t just coming from Congress and Trump though. Elon Musk is also targeting the central bank, calling it “absurdly overstaffed” in a post on X (formerly Twitter) for the second time in 3 months.

In December, he called out the Fed’s bloated workforce, and now he’s doubling down, sharing a graph of Fed employment numbers with the caption “End the Fed.”

Elon’s Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.) has already forced thousands of federal employees to justify their jobs by submitting detailed reports on their work activity. Now, the agency is setting its sights on the 24,000 employees working at the Fed’s headquarters and 12 regional banks.

Unlike most government agencies, the Fed doesn’t rely on Congress for funding. Instead, it makes money from interest on government securities. However, the central bank has been operating at a deficit due to high interest rates on bank reserves. That’s where Elon’s D.O.G.E. comes in.

In a post on X, Elon said he isn’t focusing on the Fed’s $6.8 trillion balance sheet, which is already audited by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and private companies. Instead, he wants to expose how the central bank makes its monetary policy decisions.

Meanwhile, last Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order stripping the Fed of some of its authority over big banks, moving power to political appointees in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

In a post on Truth Social today, Trump said: “DOGE has been an incredible success, and now that we have my Cabinet in place, I have instructed the Secretaries and Leadership to work with DOGE on Cost Cutting measures and Staffing. As the Secretaries learn about, and understand, the people working for the various Departments, they can be very precise as to who will remain, and who will go. We say the “scalpel” rather than the “hatchet.” The combination of them, Elon, DOGE, and other great people will be able to do things at a historic level.”

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