DeMint: Geithner won't say when TARP will end

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner would not say when the government will terminate Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) will end, according to Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.)

DeMint tweeted from a Joint Economic Committee hearing at which Geithner is testifying. DeMint is one of four Senate Republicans who sit on the panel. Geithner has recently come under pressure from Republicans and some liberal Democrats for many of his agencies polices, including the TARP bailouts.

The senator tweeted:

Asked Treasury Sec Geithner for real deadline when TARP bailout will finally end, he refused to give an end date

Geithner has said the federal government will begin to wind down the core bailout program but said the administration will likely created more targeted programs based on aiding sectors of the economy where access to credit is still tight, such as the housing and market and small business.   

A Treasury official told Reuters late last month that the government would end three core elements of TARP that are aimed at banking firms by year's end.