Government Loss on GM Bailout Deeper Than First Thought, Report Finds

The U.S. government posted a deeper loss than initially recorded on the General Motors bailout, according to a government report released today.

Taxpayers lost $11.2 billion on the GM bailout, up from $10.3 billion the Treasury Department estimated when it sold its last GM shares on Dec. 9.

A Treasury Department auditor said the government had written off an $826-million “administrative claim” tied to the GM bailout on March 20.

The figure surfaced in a report by the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which was charged with overseeing the federal government’s economic stimulus program.

A spokesman for the inspector general could not be reached immediately to provide details about the administrative claim.

The Bush and Obama administrations collectively distributed $50.2 billion in emergency aid to GM in late 2008 and early 2009 to help the company survive the economic crisis and navigate Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June and July 2009. The cash proved crucial in saving the automaker and preventing a disruption in the supply chain, according to Center for Automotive Research studies.