Ron Paul has backed off his intense initial criticism of the Sanders compromise on the audit the Fed amendment, saying that he supports passage of a measure that ensures “their sins of the past would be revealed and Americans would know more about who got bailed out by the Fed and under what terms.” He doesn’t think that goes far enough, however, and also endorses an amendment from David Vitter which includes the original Grayson-Paul audit language, above what he terms a “one-time disclosure.”

(It’s important to note that there is already language in the bill that would force disclosure of future emergency lending in a similar fashion. So while calling this a “one-time” audit diminishes its impact, it actually brings the prior lending during the crisis in line with the standard going forward, which encourages more transparency. Not to mention the fact that this disclosure, if it yields anything politically explosive, surely would not be the end of the fight, and would improve the chances for more explorations into the Fed’s activities and reform of their operations.)

Paul urged the passage of both the Sanders and the Vitter amendments, and Senators will get a chance to vote on them this morning. The vote is expected at 11:30am ET, with side-by-side votes of both amendments. This could hold some peril for both amendments if Republicans spurn the Sanders compromise and Democrats spurn the Grayson-Paul language. However, the fact that both will get a vote, and the fact that Paul endorsed both, leads me to believe that at least the Sanders measure will pass.

The fact that this morning, the Fed will brief Senators on reopening their foreign currency swap lines with Europe, which some see as a bailout of foreign banks, could further hurt their case. The Fed traditionally is extremely secretive about the details of actions like these, which is why they’re being more transparent in this case. But the bills on offer in the Senate today would end the optional nature of that transparency.

More amendments are expected on the floor of the Senate today, but these votes will kick it off.

UPDATE: Sanders and Dick Durbin have planned a press conference immediately after the votes to discuss transparency at the Fed. I think that’s a pretty strong signal that, at least, Sanders’ amendment will pass.

UPDATE II: William Greider, author of “Secrets of the Temple,” who probably knows more about the Federal Reserve than anyone not working there, and who is also its strongest critic in the media, blesses the compromise and says “This is a big deal, much bigger than most imagine.”

UPDATE III: Chris Dodd is announcing on the Senate floor that the Fed will put on its website information about all transactions with European central banks which were announced over the weekend. This means that the Fed is already altering its practices in the midst of criticism.