An independent auditor would evaluate the federal government's Gulf Coast claims process under an amendment agreed to late last night by the Senate.

The amendment, offered by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on behalf of himself and four other Gulf Coast senators, was part of a string of changes approved to the legislation known as the "minibus" spending bill. The legislation would set the fiscal 2012 budgets for the Agriculture Department; Commerce, Justice and Science; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development.

The Senate is expected to vote in favor of the overall bill in the week of Oct. 31, after senators return from a weeklong recess. Early this morning, lawmakers ended debate on the measure in an 83-16 cloture vote (E&E Daily, Oct. 21).

Rubio's amendment would target the government's Gulf Coast Claims Facility, set up in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster to hand out $20 billion worth of compensation payments to residents. More than $5.7 billion has been paid out, according to BP PLC, which is providing money for the fund.

Earlier this year, a federal judge ruled that the fund and its administrator, Kenneth Feinberg, were not independent from BP. A few days later, Florida Sen. Bill Nelson (D) sent a letter to President Obama, requesting a federal investigation of the fund (E&ENews PM, Feb. 4).

"You said this fund would be run independent of those who caused the spill 'so that people can trust that they'll get a fair shake,'" Nelson wrote in his letter. "The claimants in Florida, and the rest of the Gulf Coast, deserve no less."

Nelson is a co-sponsor of the amendment, along with Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.).

Since the ruling, the fund has also been criticized for being too slow to hand out payments.

"Feinberg is well-intentioned, but the pace it's being done, the claims are not keeping pace with the recovery of this beautiful place," Reuters reported Attorney General Eric Holder as saying during a July visit to Alabama.