No car czar; Geithner, Summers to steer auto bailout task force
President Barack Obama opted against naming a “car czar,” instead asking Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers to head a task force on revamping the US auto industry, according to people familiar wit...
By Bloomberg |
WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama opted against naming a ���car czar,��� instead asking Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers to head a task force on revamping the US auto industry, according to people familiar with the decision.
Ron Bloom, a United Steelworkers union adviser and former Lazard vice president, will join administration members on the team, according to the two people, who declined to be named because the announcement hasn���t been made publicly.
The task force puts an end to reports Obama would recruit a well-known figure from outside to serve as the so-called car czar.
The president was under pressure to say who would handle the issue before tomorrow, when General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC must give progress reports on plans to restructure as a condition of $17.4 billion in US Treasury loans.
���It���s going to be something that���s going to require sacrifice not just from the auto workers, but also from creditors, from shareholders and the executives who run the company,��� senior White House adviser David Axelrod said on Sunday on NBC���s ���Meet the Press.���
After Congress failed to approve a bailout for the automakers, former President George W Bush���s administration authorized loans December 19. That effectively made the Treasury secretary the car czar, with responsibility for making sure the companies meet deadlines and authority to revoke the loans.
Representatives from Cabinet departments and White House offices will serve on the Presidential Task Force on Autos along with Bloom, who was described by administration officials as an expert in restructuring who also has experience in manufacturing and in working with unions.
Absent from the administration���s team is Steven Rattner, co-founder of private-equity firm Quadrangle Group LLC in New York. He had been under consideration for the post of car czar, people familiar with the matter said last month.
Members of Congress, automakers and industry analysts have spent weeks discussing who might be chosen from outside Washington to serve as the car czar and what expertise that person should bring to the task.
Five Senate Democrats, including Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, wrote a letter on February 5 urging Obama to name an expert in manufacturing as part of a panel to help oversee the auto loans. ���This advisory group provides a tremendous opportunity to bring together our country���s greatest manufacturing leaders to help our domestic automakers create the vehicles and technology of the future,��� the senators said in the letter.
Bloom, who will be a senior adviser at the Treasury, has experience with an issue at the heart of the restructuring ��� health-care costs. Bloom helped negotiate the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co health-care fund.
Ron Bloom, a United Steelworkers union adviser and former Lazard vice president, will join administration members on the team, according to the two people, who declined to be named because the announcement hasn���t been made publicly.
The task force puts an end to reports Obama would recruit a well-known figure from outside to serve as the so-called car czar.
The president was under pressure to say who would handle the issue before tomorrow, when General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC must give progress reports on plans to restructure as a condition of $17.4 billion in US Treasury loans.
���It���s going to be something that���s going to require sacrifice not just from the auto workers, but also from creditors, from shareholders and the executives who run the company,��� senior White House adviser David Axelrod said on Sunday on NBC���s ���Meet the Press.���
After Congress failed to approve a bailout for the automakers, former President George W Bush���s administration authorized loans December 19. That effectively made the Treasury secretary the car czar, with responsibility for making sure the companies meet deadlines and authority to revoke the loans.
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Geithner will remain Obama���s official ���designee��� to oversee the restructuring. The Treasury secretary will have authority to recall the aid if the automakers fail to show they have a plan by March 31 to become profitable. Representatives from Cabinet departments and White House offices will serve on the Presidential Task Force on Autos along with Bloom, who was described by administration officials as an expert in restructuring who also has experience in manufacturing and in working with unions.
Absent from the administration���s team is Steven Rattner, co-founder of private-equity firm Quadrangle Group LLC in New York. He had been under consideration for the post of car czar, people familiar with the matter said last month.
Members of Congress, automakers and industry analysts have spent weeks discussing who might be chosen from outside Washington to serve as the car czar and what expertise that person should bring to the task.
Five Senate Democrats, including Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, wrote a letter on February 5 urging Obama to name an expert in manufacturing as part of a panel to help oversee the auto loans. ���This advisory group provides a tremendous opportunity to bring together our country���s greatest manufacturing leaders to help our domestic automakers create the vehicles and technology of the future,��� the senators said in the letter.
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Bloom, who will be a senior adviser at the Treasury, has experience with an issue at the heart of the restructuring ��� health-care costs. Bloom helped negotiate the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co health-care fund.
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