President Obama is planning to assign a task force of senior officials to oversee the restructuring of the auto industry, as the government weighs whether to dole out billions more in loans to Chrysler and General Motors.
The administration will not appoint a single "car czar" to oversee the restructuring as had been discussed. According to a senior administration official, Obama is looking in-house to assemble his team that will see through the plans.
The task force will be led by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers. Other members will be drawn from relevant Cabinet agencies and offices, such as the transportation, labor, energy and commerce departments.
Ron Bloom, a restructuring expert, will also be brought on to aid the administration's team as a senior adviser, according to the senior official. Bloom, a former consultant to the United Steelworkers of America, will be doing much of the financial analysis for the administration.
The administration already has teams in place at the Department of the Treasury and the National Economic Council working with General Motors and Chrysler in the run-up to their Tuesday deadline for submitting restructuring proposals.
The plans are to be followed by weeks of intense negotiations ahead of a March 31 deadline for the final versions of the reports.
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