In addition to his work on executive compensation limits, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) has also earned a reputation for pinning down government officials on touchy issues stemming from the financial bailout.

Today was no exception, as Sherman pressed Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on the central bank's ostensibly unlimited ability to lend money "in unusual and exigent circumstances." With the Obama administration today proposing $1 trillion more in Fed lending backed by an infusion of TARP bailout money -- on top of an existing Fed balance sheet that tops out at $1.8 trillion -- Sherman asked Bernanke whether he was willing to accept any limits on his lending.

The answer was yes. But Bernanke's limit might be higher than some Americans can believe: $12 trillion. That's more than the entire debt limit of the U.S. government (now $11.3 trillion), from which the Fed is independent.

"$12 trillion sounds very comfortable to me. I don't think that would be a problem," Bernanke told Sherman during a House Financial Services Committee hearing today.

Sherman now plans to introduce legislation solidifying that limit. "It's a step forward, given that right now the Fed is absolutely unlimited," he told me this afternoon. "So far, they've been reasonable in how they apply that, but God knows what they'll do in the future if some TARP money is put up [to guarantee more lending]. We have to have some limit in every risk the Fed takes."