Congress mulls more support for ailing auto industry
The hour-long meeting focused on whether Congress should move to quickly approve up to $25 billion in "bridge financing" to aid automakers through a mounting fiscal crisis. The money would be in addition to the $25 billion auto loan program funded by Congress in September to help retool factories to build more efficient vehicles.
Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Pelosi, said "discussions (are) ongoing," but declined to elaborate on Monday's meeting.
If an agreement is reached to provide more aid, House Democrats will insist that the money come with strings attached, including limits on executive compensation and bonuses, a person briefed on the meeting said.
Congressional aides said they are optimistic that up to $25 billion in immediate government loans can be quickly approved. Several options for administering the money were reviewed at Pelosi's meeting, including giving the Treasury Department explicit authority to distribute the loans.
Another option discussed was to route the money through the Federal Reserve's discount window, which makes low-cost loans, typically to banks, or other Federal Reserve programs.
Congressional leaders did not agree on a specific amount of aid, and planned to gather more information this week.
"The message was they aren't going to let the industry die," a person briefed on the meeting said. Detroit News