Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner made a House Republican go "hmmm."

This was news, considering Geithner's audience on Tuesday: the venerable, and lately venomous, House Financial Services Committee, for which no explanation, professed sorrow or death threat report from a witness last week was good enough.

No, Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., actually let Geithner answer a question about how much risk public investors might take on under the Obama administration's public-private partnership to relieve non-banks, like the demonized AIG, of toxic assets.

Very little risk, Geithner said. Potentially, an investor's dollar might earn six times that.

"Hmmm," Lucas replied thoughtfully. "Hmmm."

No scoffing? No populist rejoinder? No call for Geithner's head?

Was this the same committee that six days earlier beat the tar out of Edward Liddy, American International Group Inc. chief executive who came out of retirement for a salary of $1 to steer the failed insurance giant back to solvency, only to be told that AIG stood for "Arrogance. Incompetence. Greed?"

The same panel whose hearing spurred Republican calls for Geithner's resignation, for failing to talk Liddy into canceling the bonuses?

It was. Chaired by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the committee this week pivoted from calling for people's heads to probing what's in Geithner's, and that of the man wearing an identical tie, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. In many cases, panel members asked about actual economic policy.

One Democrat who had been part of the pitchfork brigade during Liddy's hearing suggested the panel should apologize to Liddy and the employees of AIG.

"Some of us are learning that we've hurt a lot of otherwise innocent and decent people that just fulfilled their contractual obligations in ... this massive company having nothing to do with the real problem that took place in the financial products division" of AIG, said Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y.

The cooler heads in the committee room reflected the breezier attitude toward AIG generally, from House leaders on down. Obama has signaled opposition to a House-passed bill that would levy a 90 percent tax on the roughly $170 million in bonuses AIG paid to some of its employees out of federal bailout funds.

And that's OK, in light of the news that AIG's senior bonus-receiving executives seem likely to return the money, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said.

"Apparently, the House bill had its effect _ they're giving it back," Hoyer told reporters at his weekly press availability.

This newfound tameness and earnest approach seemed fitting, since Frank's committee has a big job ahead that tracks Geithner's and Bernanke's.

It's composed of what are supposed to be the House's 70 leading experts on the housing and financial services sectors. Well before the 2010 elections, when every one of them will be on the ballot, the committee will have considered enough economic rescue legislation to own the results.

So most spent their time Tuesday asking substantive questions, a marked change from a week earlier. And a newly-confident Geithner defended the administration's plans, his new staff and the intentions of many like Liddy who have been demonized in the financial sector.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., wanted to know whether the big investment firm, Goldman Sachs, was exerting too much influence over Geithner's plans.

"You hear a lot about the dissatisfaction about the bonuses, et cetera, but underneath all of this is a conversation about the linkages and the connections of the small group of Wall Street types that are making decisions," Waters told Geithner. "That's what's causing a lot of the distrust."

He did not dispute that and acknowledged that Goldman Sachs has connections to Liddy and some of Geithner's new staff. But he stuck up for Liddy and for AIG employees, calling the public treatment of them unfair.

He faced little challenge from other questions.

"What in the Constitution could you point to to give authority to the treasury for the extraordinary actions that have been taken?" asked Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.

The treasury, the Federal Reserve and the FDIC were acting under powers granted "by this body, the Congress," Geithner said, looking puzzled.

"In the Constitution, what could you point to?" Bachmann pressed.

"Under the laws of the land, of course," Geithner replied.

Apparently satisfied, Bachmann moved on.

Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., wanted to know how much more public money AIG would need. Bernanke said that depended on how well the economy does.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., asked Geithner how the government should go about preventing companies that receive bailout money from handing out contracted bonuses, without undermining legal contracts generally?

Geithner said there can be limits placed on contracts for bonuses among firms receiving taxpayer rescue money.

There wasn't a pitchfork in sight.

Ackerman was contrite about the committee's treatment of Liddy and AIG employees generally.

"We probably owe them an apology and maybe even more than that," he said. "We owe them some kind of a remedy to the damage that it looks like we've been engaging in."