WASHINGTON – House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations Chairman John Mica says a hearing on Wednesday will examine a new inspector general report on the Treasury Department's role in a component of the Obama Administration's "Detroit bailout."
In a 2009 deal between government-controlled General Motors and one of its major suppliers, Delphi, GM slashed the pensions of non-unionized employees, while preserving full pensions and benefits for their unionized counterparts, according to the subcommittee.
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Despite assurances that Treasury, as well as the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry (Auto Team) that the subcommittee said was not supposed to be involved in day-to-day decision-making at GM, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program found in a recent report that the Treasury Department played key roles in decisions at GM, including in the controversial Delphi deal.
"For years the Treasury Department has refused to provide answers for the Delphi retirees who were hurt by their double dealing and have stonewalled this Congressional investigation," said Chairman Mica (R-Fla.).
"The IG report now proves, despite years of denials by the Obama Administration, that they played a major role in picking winners and losers in the Delphi deal," Mica continued. "Having been caught misleading the American people for years on this role, the Administration must finally answer questions about why they gave special treatment to only the unions at a cost to taxpayers."
"The report completely discredits the Administration's statement that they did not influence GM and were not involved in GM's or the PBGC's decision making. It clearly shows Treasury stepping in and perverting the process of the bankruptcy and using their influence to make certain that the outcome was politically desirable to the Administration," said Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio). "This hearing is an opportunity to continue the investigation into the unjust termination of these pensions and the hardship that this Administration has imposed on thousands of Ohioans and retirees across the country."
The hearing, "Treasury's Role in the Decision for GM to Provide Pension Payments to Delphi Employees," will take place at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 11 in room 2154 of the Rayburn House Office Building.
The hearing will also be livestreamed here. The subcommittee says additional information will be posted as it becomes available at the hearing page.
The Subcommittee on Government Operations also held a field hearing on the Delphi pension bailout on June 10.