Obama Administration Says It Had "No Role" In The Decision

General Motors executives have again started using chartered bizjets for travel between meetings, an expense apparently approved by the Obama administration early in 2009. GM's expense policy allows the automaker to rent corporate jets if its internal process deems that it is appropriate.

But White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs said the administration had no role in approving the policy. According to the Detroit Free Press, Gibbs said that reports of the government approval of the GM policy are "not accurate."

Of course, executives from GM and other automakers were slapped by Congress in 2008 when they traveled on private jets to meetings in Washington, D.C., where they sought aid from the government as the recession deepened.

GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson said that the the policy was "consistent" with requirements under TARP and its loan agreement with the Treasury department.

GM says the travel in question is a "road show" designed to convince investors to help the company raise nearly $50 billion it needs to pay the government back. GM executives say the chartered jets are critical for getting from one meeting to another in a timely fashion as that effort continues.

FMI: www.gm.com, www.whitehouse.gov