White House says working with Congress for auto aid

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday that it will continue to work with Republican lawmakers to determine if help can be extended to the ailing U.S. auto industry this week.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino also said there is not an appetite within the Bush administration or Congress to further open up the $700 billion market bailout fund to particular industries beyond financial institutions.

"What we're trying to do is staunch the bleeding," Perino said about the troubled automakers. "We're going to try to get this legislation done in the next couple days."

(Reporting by Karey Wutkowski and John Crawley; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)