White House won't give timetable on financial reform

Posted on Reuters.com.  Click here to view original article.

Wed Apr 14, 2010 7:04pm BST
Compiled by Tabassum Zakaria; Editing by David Storey


WASHINGTON, April 14 (Reuters) - The White House on Wednesday declined to give a specific timeline for passing financial reform but said it was "untenable" that Congress could end its session this year without taking action.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs also told reporters in a news briefing that he believed that the financial reform bill under consideration in the Senate could be strengthened and the Republicans would support it.

"I quite frankly think that there will be a decent number of Republicans (who) will be on the side of reform," Gibbs.

At the briefing, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that widespread housing foreclosures in the United States still posed an economic risk.