Pelosi Urges Lame-Duck Session to Push Auto Bailout

Nancy Pelosi plans to convene a lame-duck House session to vote on an expanded rescue of the auto industry, the Wall Street Journal reports. “I am confident Congress can consider emergency assistance legislation next week,” the House Speaker said. Both GM and Ford have said they are cash poor, even after the $25 billion in government loan they received prior to the election.

“I hope the Bush administration would support it,” Pelosi said of the legislation, which is still being drafted. The Senate also will be in session and is considering a similar effort. Though she would not detail the size of the bailout, Pelosi promised that conditions include limits on executive pay and strict oversight. The companies must “bear the full burden of repaying any costs that are incurred,” she said. (More Nancy Pelosi stories.)