Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Politico:

Fritz Henderson, GM’s new president and CEO, said for the first time Sunday that the automaker is planning for the possibility of restructuring within bankruptcy, although he said he still hoped to avoid that public-relations nightmare.

“If it can’t be done outside of the bankruptcy process, it will be done within it,” Henderson said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” after host David Gregory asked if bankruptcy is inevitable.

“We are planning to get the job done. Our preference is to do it outside of a bankruptcy process. But it would only be prudent to make sure that we’re planning for – if we need to resort to that, that we can move … fast.”

But Henderson, a 25-year GM man, professed optimism: “One of the happiest days of my … career will be the day we pay the loans back.”

Similarly, Henderson told CNN’s John King on “State of the Union”: “You can’t rule options off the table. So you basically say, we will spend time to try to get it done outside of bankruptcy. But if we can’t, we’re not going to compromise our goals — we’re going to get it done inside of a bankruptcy. Our preferred approach is still to do it outside. But you can’t rule out going in. And candidly, what happened, if I think about it, this week, on Monday —- unprecedented.”

On NBC, Henderson acknowledged he has “several masters,” between his board and the government.

“We’re very appreciative of the support, David, of the White House and the automotive task force — they got up to speed very fast, in a very short period of time,” Henderson said. “The conclusion was not far enough, not fast enough. And, candidly, that’s where our charge is going forward.”

Henderson said the government has demanded change: “I will spend 100 percent of my time doing exactly that.”