PIERRE — Last fall, Sen. John Thune voted to set aside an unprecedented $700 billion in the Troubled Asset Relief Program to help stabilize a banking sector many experts felt was on the verge of collapse.

Thune now says the program has outlived its usefulness — and is taking the lead in trying to shut it down.

“TARP has become little more than a slush fund for the Treasury Department to pick winners and losers among private businesses in this country,” Thune said. “I believe this needs to stop, and it needs to stop soon.”

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The original TARP legislation stated the program would expire on Dec. 31, 2009 — unless the Secretary of the Treasury decided it needed to be extended until Oct. 3, 2010. Thune introduced a bill Tuesday called the TARP Sunset Act of 2009, repealing this option and ending the program Dec. 31.

Out of the $700 billion TARP program, around $454 billion has been spent and $73 billion repaid, leaving $317 billion available.

Thune said he believes that unspent money is too great a temptation for government officials to spend and wants to end the program and put the money toward the deficit.

“I’m always concerned when there’s money around Washington, D.C., that it’s going to get snatched up and used for some purpose,” Thune said. “Before it gets snatched by somebody for their own political project, we ought to use it to pay down the federal debt. I think that’s the best thing that could happen for the American taxpayer.”

But Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson said he opposes Thune’s approach as limiting the government’s ability to respond if the economy gets in trouble again.

“I continue to say that the Treasury needs more flexibility in the TARP program, but it shouldn’t remain forever,” Johnson said. “I don’t think a hard-and-fast cut-off date is needed at this time.”

Thune said he would prefer to end TARP now and pass a new measure if government intervention is needed to stop a future crisis.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Thune said.

This is not the first time Thune has targeted bailout funds since President Obama was elected. He voted against giving Obama the authority to use the second half of the TARP funds early this year. This summer, Thune introduced a Government Ownership Exit Plan, which would have set a timetable for the government to end not only the TARP program but also all investments in private companies.

The Government Ownership Exit Plan was referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs after being introduced in June. No action has been taken on it since then.

Thune’s TARP Sunset Act was referred to the same committee Tuesday.

Thirteen other Republican senators co-sponsored Thune’s bill. No Senate Democrats have yet sponsored the measure.

Thune said he hopes his latest bill doesn’t get buried in committee.

“I hope we can get a vote on my legislation,” he said. “It’s one page long. It’s very simple. Hopefully we’ll take the step that’s necessary to end this program at the end of the year.”