Obama Transition Team Sees Administration "Looking To Be Rescued From Its Own Miscues"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

By JONATHAN WEISMAN and DEBORAH SOLOMON

WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama's transition team is resisting Bush administration overtures to coordinate more on the financial-sector rescue, convinced that neither the lame-duck President George W. Bush nor the president-elect has the clout to win a smooth congressional release of more bailout funds.

With the first $350 billion of the bailout money nearly allocated, transition aides are pressing Treasury officials to convene a bipartisan meeting on Capitol Hill this week. Obama aides say the Treasury needs to sound out congressional leaders and rank-and-file lawmakers on what information they need to release the second, $350 billion tranche from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.

"If the Administration believes the second half of the TARP needs to be triggered, we've made it clear to them that we would do everything possible to ensure Congress gives it full consideration," said Obama transition spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter. "But until they make that decision, all parties involved are in a holding pattern."

But tension is growing: Treasury officials believe Obama aides are being short-sighted in their refusal to offer more policy and lobbying assistance, while the transition team sees an administration looking to be rescued from its own miscues.

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