Dems eye using TARP funds to pay for Wall Street reform

Democrats are looking to use unused money from the $700 billion financial bailout to pay for a Wall Street overhaul package.

The new move, confirmed by a Democratic aide, comes after Republicans objected to $19 billion in new fees originally used to pay for the bill.

House and Senate lawmakers agreed to the fees as part of the conference agreement last week on the 2,000-page bill.

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), a key vote to help pass the bill, said Tuesday he would oppose the bill with the fees falling on large banks, hedge funds and other firms. Maine Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe voiced similar concerns about the fees.

The objections led Senate Democrats scrambling for a way to pass the bill.

The conference is expected to reconvene at 5 p.m. Democrats plan to propose the bailout package be shut down and any unused money be used to offset the overhaul bill, according to the aide.

"Taxpayers will never again be on the hook for paying for the costs of any future bank failures," the aide said.