(NEW YORK) — The government has handed its ATM card to beleaguered mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The Treasury Department said Thursday it removed the $400 billion financial cap it will provide to keep the companies from failing. Already, taxpayers have shelled out $111 billion to the pair.

Treasury Department officials said the $400 billion limit would be replaced with a flexible formula to ensure the two agencies can stand behind the billions of dollars in mortgage-backed securities they sell to investors. See the top 10 financial-crisis buzzwords.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac provide vital liquidity to the mortgage industry by purchasing home loans from lenders and selling them to investors. Together, they own or guarantee almost 31 million home loans worth about $5.5 trillion, or about half of all mortgages.

Without government aid, the firms would have gone broke, leaving millions of people unable to get a mortgage.

The biggest headwind facing the housing recovery has been the rise in foreclosures as unemployment remains high. The Treasury's latest move could allow Fannie and Freddie to play a bigger role in restructuring mortgages for troubled borrowers. See 25 people to blame for the financial crisis.

The news follows the announcement Thursday that Fannie's and Freddie's chief executives could get paid as much as $6 million for 2009, despite the companies' dismal performances this year.

Fannie's CEO, Michael Williams, and Freddie CEO Charles "Ed" Haldeman Jr. each will receive $900,000 in salary, $3.1 million in deferred payments next year and another $2 million if they meet certain performance goals, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.