The effort to increase the transparency of the Federal Reserve's operations has picked up surprising momentum over the last month, and has now surged past the 218 votes needed for passage in the House of Representatives.

The bill boasts 222 cosponsors, with more and more rank-and-file members of Congress steadily signing on to a bill introduced in February by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) to expand the authority of the Government Accountability Office to audit the Fed.

On Tuesday, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the Republican Leader, signed on. On Thursday, Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, one of the chamber's most conservative members, joined Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, perhaps the Senate's most liberal member, in cosponsoring a companion bill.

More than 50 Democrats have joined more than 150 Republicans so far to back HR 1207. A similar bill sponsored by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) also has momentum and is on pace for a congression