No Car Czar for Obama

Just days before Chrysler and General Motors’ restructuring plans are due to the Treasury, President Barack Obama has decided against appointing a car czar, according to news reports.

Chrysler and General Motors, who already have an agreement for $17.4 billion in government loans, are to submit to the Treasury their plans to update their companies in order to keep those loans.

So, if not a car czar, who is going to oversee the dispersment of the funds? Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

From the New York Times:

Mr. Obama is designating the Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, and the chairman of the National Economic Council, Lawrence H. Summers, to oversee a presidential panel on the auto industry. Mr. Geithner will also supervise the $17.4 billion in loan agreements already in place with G.M. and Chrysler, said the official, who insisted on anonymity.

The official also said that Ron Bloom, a restructuring expert who has advised the labor unions in the troubled steel and airline industries, would be named a senior adviser to Treasury on the auto crisis.

jeremy.jacobs@digital-staging.thehill.com