In June 2009, BofA CEO Kenneth Lewis testified he was pressured into the merger by then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and federal regulators, who made clear that if the bank reneged on its promise, they would force his ouster and that of board members at the bank. Members of Congress accused federal regulators of a gross misuse of their power in arranging what Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY) called "a shotgun wedding" that cost U.S. taxpayers $20 billion in January 2009. That amount was part of a $45 billion government bailout for BofA.