Warren Says She Is Keeping Tabs on Pay Czar

Elizabeth Warren told the Reuters news service that she is closely monitoring whether Kenneth Feinberg, who heads the Obama' administration's efforts to set pay restrictions on bailed-out companies, meets Congress's standards for transparency and openness.

"If, as he says, he wants the rulings to serve as a model, there needs to be full accountability for his decisions and a clear understanding of the metrics and goals he's using," Warren told Reuters.

In her role as chairman of the Congressional Oversight Panel overseeing the Troubled Asset Relief Program, Warren has maintained a drumbeat of criticism over what she has said is the Treasury Department's failure to account for the hundreds of billions of dollars spent in the bailout effort.

Feinberg has been hard at work in recent months approving and finalizing the pay packages of top executives as the largest firms to receive bailout assistance. Warren told the news service she was concerned that Feinberg would give in to demands that he not publicize the details of the salary arrangements.

"I think that when companies are asking for taxpayer help, the expectations of privacy change," she said. "They no longer operate in a world in which their pay decisions are relevant only to the shareholders of the company."