WASHINGTON – White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said today that the Bush administration may reverse its opposition to using money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to help Chrysler, Ford and General Motors.

"Under normal economic conditions, we would prefer that markets determine the ultimate fate of private firms," she said. "However, given the current weakened state of the U.S. economy, we will consider other options if necessary-including use of the TARP program to prevent a collapse of troubled auto makers. A precipitous collapse of this industry would have a severe impact on our economy, and it would be irresponsible to further weaken and destabilize our economy at this time."

As of 4:00 on Friday, the administration hadn't spelled out the specifics or indicated how much money it would lend. There is approximately $15 billion left in the fund, which was set up by Congress to help troubled financial institutions.