A senior administration official told CNN that the Obama administration is going to order US’ biggest bailed-out companies to “drastically cut” the salary packages of 175 top executives.

The White House’s pay czar, Kenneth Feinberg will call for the seven largest bailed-out recipients to lower the total compensation of their top 25 highest paid employees by about 50%.

Feinberg has been reviewing pay plans at Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), AIG (AIG, Fortune 500), Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), General Motors, Chrysler, GMAC and Chrysler Financial. The objective was to find a way for the companies to pay the bailout money at the soonest possible time.

The plan, which is to be released next week by the Treasury Department, will cut the annual salaries of executives of the said firms by 90% on average.

Someone from the Treasury Department also told CNN that Feinberg is “trying to strike the balance” between protecting taxpayers and allowing companies to have the ability to “grow their way out of TARP.”

(via CNN)