Obama Scraps Car Czar, Will Drive Auto Recovery from the White House

Expected today, is another Obama administration decision that consolidations more power within the White House. President Barack Obama is expected to announce foregoing the concept of a Car Czar, and appointing a task force to administer a reshaping of the US auto industry.

This task force would be run from the heart of the Obama administration--lead by US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council Director Lawerence Summers.

The Obama administration spent the weekend fighting off criticism of pulling administration of the US Census out of the US Commerce Department and into the White House. A move that resulted in losing a bi-partisan (Republican) appointment to his Cabinet.

Early statements provided to the press indicate that a Presidential Task Force on Autos and other Obama administration officials will collaborate to decide the fate of GM and Chrysler, avoiding a singular decision made by a car czar. Reportedly this presidential team would oversee the existing $17.5 billion in loan agreements, consider additional aid requests, and ultimately consider the viability of GM and Chrysler.

The appointed task force is already running up against a short deadline. A short six weeks away, March 31 marks a critical moment for deciding to maintain the loan agreement lifelines to the two automakers that have taken the federal assistance. Meanwhile, GM seems to be teetering on bankruptcy and Chrysler has made a request for an additional $3 billion in assistance.

Appearing on NBC's Meet the Press, David Axelrod a top Presidential advisor said, "we are going to need a restructuring of these companies." He also indicated that recovery would "require sacrifice not just from the auto workers butalso from creditors, from shareholders, and the executive who run the company."

Axelrod's comment obviously elude to the challenges that GM and the UAW are facing in achieving a collaborative restructuring plan. The UAW stepped away from the table late last week over the finances of retiree health care trust and bondholder's requiredconcessions to reduce the companies' debt.