Not only has the Treasury Department decided it can spend TARP money on whatever it wants, it has apparently also decided it can spend as much as it wants:
The Treasury Department has committed nearly $10 billion more than the $350 billion Congress has authorized to date for the financial-sector rescue package, which could constrain how the incoming Obama administration deploys the rest of the fund.
Treasury’s announcement Monday that it is directing $6 billion to auto-finance company GMAC LLC brought to $358.4 billion the total funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program that have been pledged to a variety of programs and guarantees. That suggests Treasury is tapping into the second half of the $700 billion set aside in October before it has been released by Congress.
Why let a little thing like legal authorization stand in the way of a good bailout?
(Via ProPublica.)
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