(Bloomberg) -- US Senator Pat Toomey and other Republican lawmakers introduced legislation that would more than halve the number of Federal Reserve regional banks and add more political oversight to the selection process for bank presidents. 

The GOP bill would make presidents of regional Fed banks presidentially appointed positions that need to be confirmed by the Senate, similar to the process for Fed board governors. It would also reduce the number of regional banks to five from 12 and add stronger requirements meant to boost geographic diversity among Fed governors and regional Fed presidents.

The partisan measure is unlikely to advance before the current Congress ends in January, when Toomey is set to leave office, or to gain much traction next year, when Democrats will maintain control of the Senate. But it highlights the building frustration from some Republicans over what they see as political activism and a lack of accountability in the Fed system.

The measure takes aim at what Toomey has criticized as the Fed’s undue attention on social and environmental issues, including poverty, inequality and climate change, which he says are beyond the central bank’s mandate. 

Under the legislation, regional Fed banks and the Fed board in Washington would also become subject to laws that prohibit federal resources from being used for political lobbying.

“Despite their narrow and nonpartisan statutory mandates, the Fed and regional Fed banks have increasingly inserted themselves into politically-charged issues like global warming and social justice,” Toomey said in a statement Wednesday.

The bill’s cosponsors include senators Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Ted Cruz of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee.

While Fed board governors are appointed by the president of the US and subject to Senate confirmation, the selection process for regional Fed bank leaders is more opaque. Those policy makers are chosen by the board of directors of the regional banks, and approved by the Fed board of governors in Washington. 

Lawmaker frustration over accountability at the regional Fed banks isn’t limited to the GOP.  

Toomey introduced a separate bill earlier this month with Democrat Elizabeth Warren that would require regional Fed banks to comply with public record requests under the Freedom of Information Act, after both lawmakers struggled to obtain information from them. The Fed branches are currently exempt from these requests due to their quasi-private structure.   

Democrats also wrote a letter to Chair Jerome Powell earlier this year urging him to take a more active role in the selection for regional Fed bank presidents with the aim of increasing diversity among the leadership. 

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