Eric Dash, New York Times

A congressman hopes to recoup payouts that were considered excessive from six banks that have yet to repay taxpayer bailout money. Representative Peter Welch, a Democrat of Vermont who is seeking re-election, plans to send a letter on Monday to the heads of those banks requesting the names and pay packages awarded to their top earners at the height of the crisis in late 2008. He also plans to ask them to reimburse the government for those payouts and to halt any future ones until the taxpayer money is returned. Kenneth R. Feinberg, the special master for compensation, put the six companies on a list of 17 banks that he found made $1.6 billion of questionable payments to senior bankers in 2008 and early 2009. But he stopped short of demanding the money back, noting he did not have the legal authority. Mr. Welch said in an interview that he understood Mr. Feinberg had limited power to recoup the money but said Congress needed to take a tougher stance.