House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said President Barack Obama will steer "substantial" funds to stem foreclosures as the administration prepares to unveil its plan for stabilizing the economy, Bloomberg reported.
"A major part of what you're going to see from the Obama administration is an effort to put substantial money into reducing foreclosures," Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, said today on NBC's "Meet the Press."
The Obama administration has pledged to spend from $50 billion to $100 billion on foreclosure relief as part of the second installment of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is scheduled to release the administration's plan in a speech Feb. 10.
Frank and other congressional leaders have faulted the Bush administration's management of the first half of the bank-rescue funds, saying banks receiving taxpayer funds should have been required to lend more and modify troubled mortgages. They have called for new limits on banks that receive additional government aid.
"The president's made clear that he's very committed" to preventing foreclosures, Larry Summers, director of the White House's National Economic Council, said today on ABC's "This Week." "I expect that it will be $50 billion or more that will be directed at providing support for the housing sector of our economy."