U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Ben Bernanke will update Democratic congressional leaders Monday on how the $700 billion financial rescue plan is working, congressional aides said Monday morning. The late-afternoon meeting comes as House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats have called on the Bush administration to use money from the Wall Street rescue program to help troubled domestic automakers. Originally intended as a program to purchase bad debt related to the home-mortgage crisis, Paulson last week redefined the program so that it focuses more direct capital injections into banks and consumer-related debt.
