Obama administration's task force

President Barack Obama's auto task force was appointed three months ago to coordinate the government's restructuring efforts of General Motors and Chrysler LLC. That included lengthy negotiations with the automakers, unions, auto dealers, parts suppliers, retiree groups, creditors and potential buyers. Under a plan brokered by the task force, Chrysler filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy at the end of April. GM is expected to do the same as early as this weekend.

The task force is nominally headed by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council Director Larry Summers. It also includes Obama cabinet members and top appointees. But the day-to-day operations and most of the deals have been handled by Steven Rattner, a former investment banker, and Ron Bloom, also a one-time investment banker who went on to work for a steel union. Each official member also has a designee that serves as a liaison to the task force.

Here's a look at the officials who serve on the panel:

LEADERS:

_ Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. Geithner was the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York when Obama nominated him in November. His other tasks have included efforts to revive the nation's ailing banking sector.

_ National Economic Council Director Larry Summers. A Treasury secretary under former President Bill Clinton, Summers, an economist, was also president of Harvard University.

TOP ADVISORS:

_ Steven Rattner, a Wall Street financier who co-founded the Quadrangle Group LLC in 2000, serves as a top adviser to Geithner. He previously acted as deputy chairman and deputy chief executive of Lazard Freres & Co. LLC.

_ Ron Bloom is a former investment banker who has worked with the United Steelworkers union since 1996. A Harvard Business School graduate, he serves as a top adviser to Geithner. Bloom was once a vice president with the Wall Street firm Lazard Ltd., focusing on the steel and airline industries.

MEMBERS:

_Transportation Secretary Raymond LaHood. LaHood is a former Republican congressman from Illinois.

_Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. He was previously a Democratic governor of Washington state.

_Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. A former California Democratic congresswoman.

_Energy Secretary Steven Chu. A Nobel-prize winning physicist, Chu was a professor at University of California, Berkeley.

_Chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisers Christina Romer. A former University of California, Berkeley economist, Romer is heavily involved in developing Obama's recovery plans for the broader economy.

_Director of the Office of Management and Budget Peter Orszag. An economist, Orszag served in the Clinton White House and was most recently head of the Congressional Budget Office.

_Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson. Jackson served as commissioner of the New Jersey environmental protection office before being selected by Obama to run the EPA.

_Director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Carol Browner. Browner led the EPA during Clinton's two terms in office.

OFFICIAL DESIGNEES:

_Diana Farrell, formerly of McKinsey & Co., is deputy director of the National Economic Council.

_Gene Sperling, a former White House economic adviser to President Bill Clinton, is a top Treasury adviser to Geithner.

_Jared Bernstein, Vice President Joe Biden's economic adviser, is a former senior economist at the liberal Economic Policy Institute.

_Edward Montgomery is a senior adviser to the Labor Department.

_Lisa Heinzerling, a Georgetown University law professor, is a senior Environmental Protection Agency adviser.

_Austan Goolsbee is staff director and chief economist of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

_Dan Utech is a senior adviser to the secretary of energy.

_Heather Zichal is deputy director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change.

_Joan DeBoer is chief of staff for the Transportation Department.

_Rick Wade is a senior adviser at the Commerce Department.