Thomas Massie Introduces Bill to Audit America’s Gold Reserves

‘Americans deserve transparency and accountability,’ the Kentucky lawmaker said.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) speaks during a campaign event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Jan. 14, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) introduced legislation on June 6 to audit gold reserves held by the United States.

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk suggested that the administration would investigate Fort Knox, the Kentucky-based facility that stores U.S. gold reserves.

“We’re going to go into Fort Knox to make sure the gold is there,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One in February. “You know that we’re going to go into Fort Knox? Did you know about that?”

Several months later, the White House has not announced a formal investigation.

Rep. Massie submitted a bill—titled the Gold Reserve Transparency Act of 2025—mandating the comptroller general to conduct and publish a full audit of the nation’s gold reserves.

Co-sponsored by Reps. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), Addison McDowell (R-N.C.), and Troy Nehls (R-Texas), the bill would grant the Government Accountability Office and third-party independent auditors access to any public or private depository where gold reserves and records are stored. This would include deep storage locations such as Fort Knox.

The bill would also require full disclosure of all gold-related transactions, such as leases, loans, sales, and swaps, over the past 50 years.

If the legislation is signed into law, the audit is projected to take up to one year and will be conducted every five years.

“Americans deserve transparency and accountability from the institutions that underpin our currency,” Massie said in a statement.

“In February, President Trump said ‘We’re going to Fort Knox ... to make sure the gold is there.’ The Gold Reserve Transparency Act of 2025 will provide the full disclosure President Trump seeks and the American public deserves.”

Gold is also stored at the Denver Mint, West Point Mint, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Fort Knox is typically at the epicenter of the conversation since it accounts for approximately half of the total U.S. gold reserves. Estimates suggest that out of America’s 261 million troy ounces of gold, Fort Knox holds more than 147 million.

The yellow metal has captured headlines this year.

Last month, gold prices reached an all-time high of $3,500 per ounce before paring their gains. As of June 10, an ounce of gold is trading at about $3,350.

At the state level, there have been initiatives to make gold, as well as silver, legal tender.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation—Bill 999—that would recognize gold and silver coins as legal tender. The bill also exempts gold and silver coins from sales tax. Every coin must be marked with its weight, purity, and mint of origin.

Auditing Audits

CEO of Money Metals Depository Stefan Gleason said Massie’s legislation is good news.

“It’s been literally decades since actual inventories and assays have been conducted with respect to U.S. gold reserves, and the Department of the Treasury has lost records as well as failed to account for many occasions when vault compartments were inexplicably opened and resealed without new audits,” Gleason said in a statement.

Three 1-kilogram gold bullion bars at a gold dealer's shop, in Birmingham, England, on Dec. 13, 2023. Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

The last full audit of Fort Knox’s gold holdings was in September 1974. A physical inspection was performed by then-Treasury Secretary William Simon, who also invited congressional officials and the media to tour the location and inspect reserves.

Independent organizations have stated that the audit conducted more than 50 years ago did not compare serial numbers against official records, examine the gold bars for purity, or perform a final tally of the gold bullion.

“The history of the ‘audits’ reveals red flags: lost records and broken compartment seals without explanation or reauditing,” Jp Cortez, the executive director of the public policy group Sound Money Defense League, told The Epoch Times. “As Money Metals gold researcher Jan Nieuwenhuijs has meticulously documented, these practices wouldn’t pass muster at a private depository.”

U.S. officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, have pushed back against claims that domestic gold holdings are not subject to audits.

In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Bessent said that the U.S. government performs an annual audit of the country’s gold reserves.

“We do an audit every year. ... I can tell the American people on camera right now, there was a report, Sept. 30, 2024, all the gold is there,” Bessent said in February. “Any U.S. senator who wants to come visit it can arrange a visit through our office.”

The Treasury’s Office of Inspector General published a report in October containing its audit findings.

“In our opinion, the Schedules present fairly, in all material respects, the balances of the Department’s United Gold Reserves Held by Federal Reserve Banks as of September 30, 2024 and 2023, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles,” the report stated.

Cortez said that Bessent might be mistaken or misled regarding the audits.

“An audit of the schedule of seals isn’t an audit of what’s inside, especially since there were issues before those compartment seals were placed. Audits are never [a] one-and-done affair anyway,” he said.

The U.S. Mint released an account summary of U.S. monetary gold reserves in September.

Other officials have informed lawmakers that the U.S. government is aware of all the nation’s gold holdings.

“And we know where it is. We know how much it is. And we know that it is there and none of it has been removed,” former Treasury Inspector General Eric Thorson said at a 2011 Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology hearing.

The Epoch Times reached out to the White House and Massie’s office for comment.