House Republicans can scream all they want that the Energy Department broke the law when it changed the terms of Solyndra?s $535 million loan guarantee, putting taxpayers on the hook first if the company went under.
But can anyone do much about it?
Continue ReadingProbably not ? at least not legally.
Unlike laws?such as?the Clean Air Act, which allows citizens to sue the?EPA for possible violations, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that created DOE's loan guarantee program doesn't provide a similar outlet for someone who claims a law was broken.
"Certainly there's some mileage to be gained by making the argument that DOE exceeded its statutory authority, but beyond that, I'm not exactly sure what the actual repercussions would be from that," said Salo Zelermyer, a former DOE attorney during the George W. Bush administration.
Granted, the Obama administration says it was well within its legal bounds when DOE agreed in February to change the terms of Solyndra's loan guarantee so that private investors could recoup about $75 million before the taxpayers if the California solar company went bankrupt.
Susan Richardson, the chief counsel of DOE's loan program office, concluded in a February memo that the move "offers the best prospect of eventual repayment in full ... and is demonstrably preferable to a liquidation of the borrower."
But Republicans counter with their own interpretation of the 2005 energy law, saying DOE had no wiggle room to let the private investors cut to the front of the line. At the same time, they also acknowledge they can?t do much about it in the courtroom.
"Although there's language in the EPACT as I understand it to prevent subordination of the loan, there's really no penalty for doing so, so that's a little troublesome," Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) told POLITICO last week.
Several other critics of the Solyndra loan guarantee said they are limited in their options, too ? beyond making a big stink.
"Taxpayers don't have standing just because it's taxpayer money," said Autumn Hanna, senior program director at Taxpayers for Common Sense.
"The recourse that makes sense is for lawmakers to change this bad policy," she added.
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