ELYAC Realty- White House Struggles to Find G.O.P. Support for Auto Bailout

WASHINGTON — Even as House Democrats pressed for a vote Wednesday afternoon on a government rescue of the automobile industry, the Bush administration failed to generate enough support for the measure among Senate Republicans who have the power to kill the bill, dimming the prospects for the $15 billion plan.

The White House chief of staff, Joshua B. Bolten, attended a weekly lunch of Republican senators in an effort to persuade them to support the auto rescue plan. But he encountered stiff resistance. Some senators said the automakers should be allowed to go into bankruptcy while others said the White House plan for a car czar was weak.

Senator George V. Voinovich, Republican of Ohio, and one of the few outspoken Republican supporters of a government rescue for the auto industry, emerged from the lunch and suggested there was little hope that the bill could be approved. He said that even substantial changes to the bill may not change the minds of many colleagues.

Efforts by the Bush administration and Congressional Democrats to fashion a government rescue of the foundering American auto industry hit other snags on Wednesday, with a dispute over the precise wording of the bill. That led the House and Senate to put forward competing versions of the legislation.

The last-minute disagreement centered on a single word — with the Senate bill requiring the automakers “to comply with all applicable federal fuel efficiency and emissions requirements” and the House bill referring to “all applicable fuel efficiency requirements,” which would include state emissions rules that the automakers oppose.

Aides to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that she was prepared to push ahead with plans for a vote on the legislation Wednesday afternoon, while Democratic Senate aides warned that the House version of the bill was doomed in the Senate because it would be rejected by Republicans and would never be signed by President Bush.

Even as negotiators sought to iron out that final disagreement, a group of Republican senators held a news conference to say that they would oppose an auto bailout in any form and that they stood ready to filibuster the bill. It was not immediately clear if the opposition would be sufficient to block the measure.

Senator Richard C. Shelby, Republican of Alabama, said he remained opposed to a bailout. “I intend to talk to the American people about it from the Senate floor,” he said.

In the broadest sense, the competing bills provide an identical government rescue of the two most imperiled automakers, General Motors and Chrysler, in the form of $15 billion in emergency loans. In exchange for the loans, the auto manufacturers would have to submit to strict government oversight and carry out sweeping reorganization plans.

The auto bailout plan would be supervised by a so-called car czar to be appointed by President Bush within the executive branch.

The bill also provides for extensive taxpayer protections that would give the government warrants to take an equity stake in the automakers. It would limit executive pay, bar “golden parachute” severance packages and prohibit the paying of shareholder dividends while the emergency government loans are outstanding.

The bill would require the companies and their stakeholders, including creditors, labor unions, and dealers to agree on sweeping reorganization plans that would lead to long-term financial viability. If they fail to agree, the auto czar would be able to impose a plan, and could also force the companies into bankruptcy if they fail to meet requirements.

Even if the final dispute over the legislation could be resolved on Wednesday, it seemed likely that the Senate would not be able to approve the bill until sometime next week.

Senator Shelby was joined by three other Republican senators, John Ensign of Nevada, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and David Vitter of Louisiana, in speaking against a bailout.

“How does anybody expect some ‘car czar’ to make the decisions that are right?” Mr. Ensign asked rhetorically as he and his colleagues alluded to the decades-long, systemic problems of the domestic auto industry.

Before the unexpected snag, Congressional aides said a deal between House Democrats and the White House was close, and White House aides said good progress had been made. But House Republicans, who are at a 236-to-198 disadvantage, were circulating an alternate plan that they said would allow the car companies to be competitive again without putting public money at risk.

Some Republicans, notably Mr. Shelby, have said the carmakers’ problems were of their own making and they should be forced into bankruptcy, if necessary. Others, like Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, have said they would like to find a way to save the companies without putting taxpayers’ money at risk.

Republican support for a rescue is vital in the Senate, since 60 votes are needed to advance the measure because of procedural rules. With the resignation of President-elect Barack Obama, Democrats have only a 5o-to-49 advantage in the Senate, and it is not clear if the White House can muster broad support among Republicans.

The rescue plan would extend $15 billion in emergency loans to General Motors and Chrysler, the two most imperiled automakers, and would subject them to far-reaching government oversight at the direction of a so-called car czar to be named by Mr. Bush.

Ford is not seeking short-term loans because it is not as bad off as the other two big automakers.

By Tuesday evening, White House and Democratic Congressional negotiators, meeting at the Capitol, had narrowed their differences to one major issue: a proposal to bar the automakers from fighting state laws that seek to cap greenhouse gas emissions.

A senior administration official said that bill would set a firm deadline of March 31 for the car czar to certify that the automakers and their stakeholders, including creditors, labor unions and dealers, had agreed to carry out a long-term viability plan and that the bill would set out “a hard economic definition of what it means to be a viable firm.”

The official said that if there were no such agreement, the auto czar would be required to demand repayment of the administration rather than giving the czar discretion to call in the loan, which Democrats had initially proposed. The bill would also allow the auto czar to impose a viability plan, which could force a company into bankruptcy.

To address concerns raised by the White House on Monday, the bill will require the car czar to call in the emergency loans for repayment should the auto companies fail to carry out aggressive reorganization plans or meet other obligations in the law.

Congressional Democrats also agreed to a White House request to raise to $100 million, from $25 million, the size of business transactions requiring the approval of the auto overseer. The administration said it did not want to micromanage the automakers.

Aides suggested that Speaker Pelosi, whose district is in California, where an emissions lawsuit is under way, might be willing to compromise on that point in exchange for White House assurances that Republican lawmakers would support the bill.

Meanwhile, House Republicans were putting forth a proposal calling for the government to provide insurance to cover up to half the losses of new investment in the auto industry in the case of default. That way, they said, taxpayers’ money would be protected and private investment would be encouraged.

The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, said that lawmakers might need to work through the weekend to get the rescue plan approved. But he expressed resolve.

“There will be no stalling us from doing this,” Mr. Reid said on the Senate floor on Tuesday afternoon. “We are going to complete this legislation.”

The Democrats may face difficulties generating votes in their own caucus as well. There were 10 Democrats who voted against the $700 billion financial system bailout in October, some of whom could similarly oppose a taxpayer rescue of the auto companies.

In addition, Senators John Kerry of Massachusetts and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, both Democrats, are scheduled to leave Washington on Wednesday for a trip overseas.

Mr. Reid said he would urge lawmakers in both parties to be available to vote on the auto-rescue package. “I would suggest it’s not a very good vote to miss,” he said. “Maybe multiple votes.”

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