By Ryan Grim

The Federal Reserve System has doled out more than $2 trillion in an effort to stave off the financial crisis, pouring money into "hundreds and hundreds" of banks, according to Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke.

Which banks? On what terms? At what rates? Don't ask the Fed.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, intends to put the Senate on record opposed to such Fed secrecy.

"The contrast is pretty clear," Sanders tells the Huffington Post, "if you want to know who received the money under TARP, go to the website, it's there. If you want to know who received the money from the Fed, it ain't there."

Sanders opposed the initial TARP funds, but says that as long as money's being spent, taxpayers ought to know where it's going. This week, he will introduce a Sense of the Senate resolution calling on the Fed to release information to the public regarding what it's doing with its money.

"The argument is that it would hurt these companies if the public was made aware that they need the money. I just don't accept that. I just don't accept that," says Sanders.

Sanders attempted to introduce a similar amendment during a budget hearing, but parliamentary rules forced him to scale it down. So he's bringing it to the Senate floor.

"I think it would have won, to be honest, in the budget committee," he says. "I think most senators, most Americans, find it hard to believe that $2.2 trillion could be put at risk and you don't know who's getting it. It's pretty hard to defend."

Sanders says he will follow with binding legislation, but wants to put senators on record first. "It puts the Senate on record -- and I think there is growing support from both the left and the right on this -- that we need transparency at the fed, which operates with more secrecy than any other institution," he says.

To read Sanders' proposal, click here.