U.S. Treasury Department inspector general Eric Thorson says overseeing dispersal of bailout funds will require a new special inspector position supported by a staff of at least 100 people.

But with $290 billion of the $700 bailout total already committed, neither the new inspector nor the support staff is in place.

"I don't think anyone understands right now how we're going to do proper oversight of this thing," Thorson told The Washington Post.

"It's a mess."

A special inspector would have a budget of $50 million and conduct audits and investigations of how the government spends bailout funds.

The oversight process appears to have bogged down because the current administration hasn’t nominated an overseer and the next administration can’t.

Hedge fund giant John Paulson says that bailout terms for banks don’t have enough strings attached.

"The current terms are overly generous to recipients," Paulson told Reuters. He also wants the government to demand higher dividend payments from participating banks.

House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank recently said Congress may seek to block authorization of the program's remaining $350 billion if participating banks fail to do more lending.