WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A congressionally appointed panel that oversees the Treasury Department's $700 billion financial rescue fund is expected to release a report on Wednesday highly critical of how it has been handled, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, also said the panel would push the Bush administration to act more aggressively to prevent foreclosures.
The newspaper said the oversight report due on Wednesday is not expected to contain new findings. It said a draft of the report posed 10 questions, pressing officials for a clearer strategy and asking whether there is sufficient accountability and why more has not been done to prevent foreclosures.
Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard University law professor who heads the congressional oversight panel, is scheduled to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee on Wednesday and is expected to discuss the report.
Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a Texas Republican who opposed the financial rescue bill and also serves on the oversight panel, said in a statement he could not sign the report.
"In my role on the TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) panel, my top three goals are to ensure that the program works, to ensure that decisions made are based on merit and not political considerations, and most importantly, to ensure that taxpayers are protected," Hensarling said.
"I am hopeful that the oversight panel will eventually be an effective vehicle for these goals to be met but thus far the jury is still out on that," Hensarling said.
Caleb Weaver, a spokesman for the oversight panel declined to comment on the Wall Street Journal's report.
(Reporting by Tim Ahmann; Editing by Diane Craft and Bill Trott)
