Troubled Asset Relief Program

The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is a program of the United States government to purchase toxic assets and equity from financial institutions to strengthen its financial sector that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush. It was a component of the government's measures in 2008 to address the subprime mortgage crisis. The TARP originally authorized expenditures of $700 billion. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 created the TARP. The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, signed into law in 2010, reduced the amount authorized to $475 billion (approximately $665 billion in 2024). In its final April 2024 report, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) stated that total disbursements were $443.5 billion, and estimated the program's total subsidy cost at $31.1 billion, mostly from grants for mortgage programs. On December 19, 2014, the U.S. Treasury sold its remaining holdings of Ally Financial, essentially ending the program. Through the Treasury, the U.S. government actually booked $15.3 billion in surplus, as it earned $441.7 billion on the $426.4 billion invested.