House Likely to Vote on Auto Bailout This Afternoon

The House is ready to vote on a $15 billion bill to rescue GM and Chrysler as early as this afternoon, the Detroit News reports. The Senate, meanwhile, is likely to vote tomorrow morning. “My understanding is it is done, but the piece of paper is not before the Senate,” says Harry Reid. But Republicans are threatening to gum up the works.

“There cannot be a vote on the legislation today, because we don’t know what it looks like,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, complaining that Republicans still haven’t seen the bill. Another GOP senator vowed to demand amendments, a process that could gum up the works until the weekend; Louisianan David Vitter decried the measure as “ass-backwards,” the AP reports.  (More auto industry stories.)