White House confident housing bill will pass next week

The White House said Wednesday that despite some "mixed messages" from lawmakers, it remains confident the housing bill will pass Congress next week.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said the White House has received "positive signals" from members on the Hill who are in a position to push the bill through, and the "bottom line" is they believe it will get done.

{mosads}"I think the urgency of the situation underscores the need for them to move quickly," Perino said.

The housing bill is intended to shore up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and is expected to include provisions requested by Bush to allow the Treasury Department to temporarily extend an unlimited line of credit to the mortgage giants. Bush on Tuesday called for Congress to move quickly on the bill, opening a rift with Republican leaders in Congress skeptical of the overall bill. 

Some lawmakers have expressed concern about the absence of a cap on the financial assistance the government is offering.

Perino noted that neither Fannie Mae nor Freddie Mac has requested the funds as of yet, and she repeated President Bush's assertion that any assistance would be temporary.

The push for the housing bill has been bolstered by a steady stream of sobering economic news, which continued Wednesday morning when the Department of Labor announced a 1.1 percent increase in the consumer price index in June, about twice the rate of May.