Which U.S. financial rescue program authorized up to $700 billion during the 2008 crash?

The Troubled Asset Relief Program authorized up to $700 billion during the 2008 financial crash.

Congress created TARP through the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, signed into law on October 3, 2008. The program initially aimed to purchase troubled mortgage-related assets, but the Treasury soon used much of its authority to inject capital directly into banks and support other parts of the financial system.

TARP was designed to stabilize markets during the credit crisis that followed the housing collapse and Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy. It became politically controversial because it used public funds to support financial institutions, although the Congressional Oversight Panel and Treasury later reported that the overall program cost was below its original authorized ceiling.

The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act was the law; TARP was the program created under it. Dodd–Frank was a later financial-reform law, not the 2008 rescue authorization.