(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) today responded to reports from the U.S. Treasury Department that $1.3 billion of U.S. taxpayer money was lost in the government bailout of Chrysler. 

“The policies of this Administration are already making economic recovery more difficult.  Now, as we struggle underneath $14 trillion debt, the Administration lost $1.3 billion of taxpayers’ dollars and is still trying to claim that the bailout was a success. Red tape and big government programs cannot replace private sector-job growth,” said Senator Heller.

According to news reports, the Treasury Department revealed that the federal government paid $12.5 billion to Chrysler. Of that amount, $11.2 billion has been paid through principal repayments, interest and cancelled commitments. The remaining $1.3 billion remain as unrecovered bail-out funds.

The Treasury Department also stated that it had sold its remaining stake in Chrysler to Fiat, an Italian automaker, which means that Fiat will own 52 percent of Chrysler.

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