Countrywide Financial loan controversy

In his role as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee Dodd proposed a program in June 2008 that would assist troubled subprime mortgage lenders such as Countrywide Financial in the wake of the United States housing bubble's collapse

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Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac controversies

Senator Dodd was involved in issues related to the federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis.

As part of Dodd's overall mortgage bill the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 before Congress in the summer of 2008, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson sought provisions enabling the Treasury to add additional capital and regulatory oversight over these government sponsored enterprises. At the time, it was estimated that the federal government would need to spend $25 billion on a bailout of the firms.[37]

During this period, Dodd denied rumors these firms were in financial crisis. He called the firms "fundamentally strong",[38] said they were in "sound situation" and "in good shape" and to "suggest they are in major trouble is not accurate".

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AIG federal assistance and bonuses controversy

From the fall of 2008 through early 2009, the United States government spent nearly $170 Billion to assist failing insurance giant, AIG. AIG then spent $165 million of this money to hand out executive "retention" bonuses to its top executives. Public outrage ensued over this perceived misuse of taxpayer dollars.

Senator Chris Dodd was responsible for the inclusion of a clause limiting excessive executive pay in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. On February 14, 2009, the Wall Street Journal published an article, Bankers Face Strict New Pay Cap, discussing a retroactive limit to bonus compensation inserted by Chris Dodd into the stimulus bill that passed in the Senate.