Senators Turn Up the Heat on GM’s Barra

General Motors Co. CEO Mary Barra faced harsh questioning by U.S. senators on Wednesday about GM's belated recall of 2.6 million faulty ignition switches linked to 13 fatalities.

Barra repeated the position she took in Tuesday's testimony before a House committee: GM's focus is on fixing its procedures as well as the switches but a full explanation of its past failures won't be available until investigations are complete.

Wednesday's impatient panel, which included four former prosecutors, wasn't buying what it considered GM foot dragging. Senators described a "culture of cover-up," suggested GM is likely to face criminal prosecution and in frustration fumed at Barra, "You don't know anything about anything!"

Senators suggested GM may be guilty of criminal deception for modifying the flawed switch eight years ago without giving the component a new part number.

Barra said the data she has seen suggests that Ray DeGiorgio, the GM engineer who approved the upgrade, lied under oath during a deposition last year by insisting he was unaware of any changes to the switch. She also said DeGiorgio is still employed at GM, prompting panel Chair Claire McAskill (D-Mo.) to retort, "It's hard to image you would want him anywhere near any engineering anything."

Claire McAskill (D-Mo.) said the "new" GM failed to impress by waiting nine months after learning the switch didn't meet company performance standards before ordering a recall in February.

A leaked internal e-mail chain seems to show that GM decided to turn down a plan in 2005 to extensively redesign the switch because doing so would raise the device's price by 90 cents but reduce per-unit warranty costs by only 10-15 cents.