TEXT OF STORY

Steve Chiotakis: The government watchdog for the Troubled Asset Relief Program is testifying before a Senate committee later this morning. As Marketplace’s Tamara Keith tells us, he’s expected to say there’s some money taxpayers will never see again.

Tamara Keith: Neil Barofsky is the special inspector general for the $700 billion bailout program. In prepared testimony, Barofsky says the Treasury Department has spent about $445 billion of the money on everything from shoring up banks to rescuing GM and Chrysler.

He says it is extremely unlikely taxpayers will see a full return on the investment. For instance, he doesn’t expect a direct return on the $50 billion Treasury plans to spend to get banks to modify troubled mortgages.

Barofsky also complains in his testimony that the Treasury is still not being transparent enough about how the firms receiving bailout funds are spending the money. Treasury could extend the program another year if it can convince Congress it’s needed.

In Washington, I’m Tamara Keith for Marketplace.