Obama Will Get Next $350B, Pelosi Signals

Speaker sees close vote on authorizing remaining bailout funds

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 14, 2009 12:39 PM CST

(Newser) – Barack Obama will get the $350 billion in bailout funds he’s asking for, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated today on ABC’s Good Morning America. The Democrat didn’t explicitly guarantee victory in what’s expected to be a close vote, but said she believed Obama would get the money because this time it’ll be spent by “a president who’ll enforce the law.”

Congress would be hard-pressed to prevent Obama from getting the cash. In a vote expected tomorrow, the Senate is likely to approve the funding, while the House could reject the measure. Obama has promised a veto in that instance, and it would then take a two-thirds majority in both houses to override him and keep him from spending the money.

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says lawmakers have felt helpless over how the Bush administration spent the first half of the bailout funds, but thinks Barack Obama will add transparency to the process. (AP Photo)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says a belief that Barack Obama is "a president who will enforce the law" will sway lawmakers to vote to authorize the remaining $350 billion in federal bailout funds. (AP Photo)

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Obama threatens veto over bailout funds. (CNN)

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Obama Will Get Next $350B, Pelosi Signals