Congress to return in December

Congress will return in December to work on legislation
to help the nation’s ailing auto manufacturers, Democratic leadership sources
said Thursday afternoon.

No date has been confirmed, but it is expected Congress
will return the week of Dec. 8.

{mosads}Democratic leaders rejected compromise legislation worked
out by key senators from auto states, the sources said.

“It’s a non-starter,” said a senior Democratic aide.
“There is no deal.”

The aide said Congress will hold hearings during the week
of Dec. 1 on written plans submitted by the auto manufacturers, and then
Congress will return the week of Dec. 8.

House and Senate Democratic leaders met in House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) office at about 12:30 p.m. Thursday to discuss a
compromise worked out by Democratic Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, both
of Michigan, and Republican Sens. George Voinovich of Ohio and Kit Bond of
Missouri.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), Democratic
Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Charles Schumer (N.Y.), Majority Whip
Dick Durbin (Ill.) and Senate Democratic Conference Secretary Patty Murray
(Wash.) attended the meeting.

The compromise would have sent $25 billion in bridge
loans to the car companies. The money would have come from already approved
loans that were intended to help the manufacturers retool plants in order to
produce cars that could meet tougher fuel-efficiency standards.

Senate and House Democratic leaders opposed lifting the
restrictions on those loans, instead pushing for the money to come from the
$700 billion bailout package passed last month. Pelosi and other leading House
Democrats have cautioned that a bill lifting the environmental and fuel-efficiency
restrictions would face an uphill battle.

Reid objected to the compromise notion on the Senate
floor Wednesday night, saying it had not gone through committee and there was
no written legislation.

The White House said Thursday that Reid should allow a
vote on the compromise. White House press secretary Dana Perino said Reid
should not be “looking to pick up his ball and go home for the next two
weeks — two months — for vacation.”

“And if that is the case, then one can only deduct
[sic] that the Democrats don’t believe that the auto industry really needs
help, and really needs help now,” Perino said. “We disagree. We think
they need help. We have heard their calls for help, and we have designed a plan
in order to get it to them.”

Perino reiterated the administration’s insistence that
aid for the industry not come from the $700 billion financial rescue package.
Senate Democrats have been pushing for an additional $25 billion for the
automakers from the rescue package.

A vote on an auto bailout appeared highly unlikely on
Wednesday evening, after several Senate Republicans said a bankruptcy filing
would be preferable. Members of both parties also were upset with reports that
executives from the Big Three had flown to Washington on private jets to ask
for taxpayer help for their companies.

Levin had said Wednesday that it would be “unthinkable”
for Congress to leave this week without passing support for the manufacturers
because the main source of controversy has been over where the money should
come from.

Perino also had stated that the White House expected
Congress to come back to town if it failed to address the struggling industry
this week.

“If the Congress doesn’t act this week, and the —
one of the companies is in imminent danger of insolvency, we would suspect that
they would want to come back and finish the work that they didn’t get done this
week,” Perino said, adding: “I can’t imagine a scenario where they
wouldn’t come back, unless the answer is that they just don’t care. And if
that’s the case, then the American people ought to know that and hear it from
them.”

It is unclear how long General Motors, the auto company
in the most dire straits, can stay in business without a cash infusion.
Chrysler is in only a slightly better position, and Ford is marginally stronger
than the other two. The companies have warned that a failure by one could lead
to a chain reaction causing the bankruptcies of the other auto manufacturers
and parts suppliers.

Sam Youngman and
Silla Brush contributed to this story.