GOP senators threaten to delay auto vote

Senate Republicans vowed Wednesday to delay an auto rescue package
forged between Democrats and the White House, while supporters said
they lacked the votes to move the bill along.

The five GOP senators would need to rally most members of their party to block the legislation that would send $15 billion to Chrysler LLC and General Motors Corp. in the short term. At a news conference, the quintet admitted that was a tall order but said they would seek to delay a final vote until the weekend and propose an alternative instead.

{mosads}“There’s not going to be a filibuster,” said Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) “But there is going to be a demand that we have floor debate and we have time for it. Which means we’re not going to give them consent to shorten the time.”

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) on Wednesday assured Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that Republicans would review the deal at their midday weekly policy lunch.

But the GOP conference’s leading proponent of the bill left that lunch uncertain if  there would be enough votes to advance the measure. Democrats would need at least 11 or 12 GOP senators to move the legislation along, and even some Democrats expressed concerns that might prompt them to vote against the deal.

“I would say right now from what I can pick up that I don’t think the
votes are there on our side of the aisle,” said George Voinovich
(R-Ohio), who helped craft the deal. “Some effort needs to be made to respond to some of the
concerns of my colleagues.”

Most Republicans said the bill establishes a government car czar who would be too weak to oversee the restructuring plans and force the companies to make necessary
changes.

“I’m very concerned about the potential loss of jobs and the impact on innocent victims like the employees of car dealerships across the country,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) . “On the other hand, I have a lot of unanswered questions about the authority of the czar and I still do not see why a prepackaged bankruptcy with the federal government acting to provide debtor and possession financing might not be a better approach.”

McConnell, who hails from a state where the economy depends on the American auto industry, said the GOP had been told of a deal between Democrats and the White House, but had yet to see a final version of the bill prior to the policy lunch.

“Once we do, we’ll review it to see if it meets our standard for support — the taxpayers’ standard for support,” McConnell said in a statement on the Senate floor.

Without the support of McConnell or the White House, a filibuster could be difficult.

But that hasn’t deterred GOP Sens. DeMint, Richard Shelby (Ala.), John Ensign (Nev.), Tom Coburn (Okla.) and David Vitter (La.) from trying. They called the bill “a travesty” and said they will stall it to allow a sixth senator, Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), to complete work on an alternative bill that force the companies to restructure but without the formal stigma of filing for bankruptcy .

“We need to let the market fix this,” said DeMint. “This is not a political problem, it’s a business problem and once we allow them to restructure, they can come out on the other side.”

At the same time, House Republicans offered their own alternative to the auto bailout package, proposing that the government instead provide insurance to cover up to 50 percent of company losses of new investment in the case of default, which they say will unlock immediate money from private investors who have been unwilling to come forward.

The GOP bill, which House Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio) described as an alternative to the nationalizing of the domestic auto industry through a “taxpayer-funded bailout,” will be introduced Wednesday. But with Democrats in that chamber holding a firm majority, the last-minute effort is unlikely to be a potential stumbling block unless GOP senators join the effort.

McConnell said there would be no Senate vote on the auto package Wednesday, but added the issue would be addressed before the end of the week. “On a bill this critical, with so much taxpayer money at stake, we cannot rush this through without adequate review,” he said.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) released a statement on Wednesday morning criticizing a tax provision in the package. Later in the day, Baucus and Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa), the ranking Republican on the finance panel, said they would oppose the bill if the provision is not stripped out.

“It’s a big problem,” Baucus said. “I will oppose if the bill comes to the floor and that is in it… That provision needs to be taken out.”

The House could take up the package as early as Wednesday, despite Democrats’ earlier intentions to move the legislation first in the Senate. A House leadership aide on Wednesday said such a vote was possible, but not definite.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) late Tuesday evening called on President Bush and President-elect Obama to persuade unconvinced lawmakers to support the package.

“We will need the personal involvement of President Bush and President-elect Obama to reach our goal of securing bridge loans to ensure America’s auto industry is not only viable but vibrant in the years ahead,” Levin said.

“This gets us to the 20-yard line, but getting over the goal line will take a major effort, particularly in the Senate,” Levin said.

The draft language of the bill would send GM and Chrysler $15 billion, and would require President Bush to appoint a car czar who would oversee the automakers’ restructuring plans and bailout funds.

McConnell hinted at one possible hurdle to Republican support: a provision that would bar car companies from pursuing lawsuits against California and other states that are imposing tough vehicle emissions standards.

McConnell said GOP criteria for the legislation included that taxpayers be assured the car companies would change their business models, and that a final bill not interfere with “pending environmental lawsuits in a one-sided manner.”

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said the lawsuit provision
would be removed from the bill because of White House opposition and
because it might not have worked anyway.  

We’re dealing with this administration now,” Hoyer said. “If we
wait 41 days we might not have one or more of the major automakers.”

If the bill fails, Ensign said the Bush administration would make a “huge mistake” in using existing funds available under the $700 billion financial bailout, known as the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), because it would prolong automakers’ dependency on government aid without forcing them to make necessary business changes.

Jared Allen, Ian Swanson and Mike Soraghan contributed to this article.

This article was updated at 3:09 p.m.