White House plan wins out in Congress

The Republicans and Democrats have reportedly agreed that instead of providing new aid to automakers, they would strip out gas mileage requirements from the already-approved $25 billion in loans to the domestics. Instead of demanding high-efficiency vehicles and conversion of older factories, Congress will, under this package, demand limits to executive pay, a bar on mergers, and an oversight committee, among other provisions. In return, the loans will be made available far more quickly – perhaps even before the $25 billion package would have been disbursed had the executive branch chosen to follow the original law.

The new agreement has yet to come to a vote and may change dramatically before approval, as the bank bailout did.