White House says opposes more than $25 billion for automakers

President Bush walks away after discussing the transition with the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama with staff members, on the South Lawn of the White House, November 6, 2008.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Tuesday said it opposed providing automakers more funds than the $25 billion in government loans already appropriated to help the ailing industry.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino reiterated opposition to using the $700 billion financial rescue package for automakers, calling it "unnecessary and unreasonable."

She said the $25 billion already appropriated through a Department of Energy loan program should be what is used to help the automakers. "We are not in favor of even an additional $25 billion in taxpayer money on top of that," Perino said.

She said the administration hoped a bipartisan agreement could be reached with Congress on allowing automakers to use the Energy Department loans, intended for fuel efficiency, to address the current financial problems facing the car makers.

(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; Editing by James Dalgleish)