White House: No immediate auto deal

The Bush administration is considering ways to provide emergency aid to General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, which have said they could run out of cash within weeks without government help.

White House officials said they did not expect an announcement on any funding for the companies on Sunday or Monday. The aid probably would benefit General Motors and Chrysler. Ford Motor Co. has said it has enough cash to survive 2009 but asked Congress for a line of credit in case financial conditions deteriorate.

Last week, Congress failed to approve $14 billion in loans to help the automakers. The plan would have provided short-term financing to the industry and create a "car czar" who would ensure that the money would transform the Big Three into competitive companies.

In the aftermath of the legislative defeat, administration officials have said they are considering several options, including using money from the $700 billion financial bailout fund to provide loans to the carmakers.

Sen. Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican, said Treasury officials were reviewing the companies' balance sheets, but "both Chrysler and GM are on the verge of bankruptcy, just a few days away."

Corker and other Republicans sought a compromise that would have insisted the carmakers restructure their debt and bring wages and benefits in line with those paid by Japanese companies Toyota, Honda and Nissan at their factories in the United States. The legislation died when Republicans demanded upfront pay and benefit concessions from the United Auto Workers that union leaders rejected.

Corker urged the administration to seek similar concessions from the auto companies and their unions in return for the money. "Of course, the benefit they have _ they don't have to negotiate. They can say this money is available but it's only available under these conditions," he said in a broadcast interview.

Asked whether the deal was intended to break the UAW, Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat, said Republican leaders in the Senate did not want an agreement. She said the loans were needed to buy time for the companies to restructure.

"Manufacturing is on the edge in this country. This is not the time for a political agenda," said Stabenow, who appeared with Corker on "Fox News Sunday."

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