General Motors Co. CEO Mary Barra is returning to Capitol Hill today to discuss the company's exhaustive report into its delayed ignition switch recall that has been linked to at 13 deaths. This is the second time Barra will testify before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation since the ignition switch fiasco began in February. But this time, Barra will not be able to hide behind an ongoing investigation.
DETROIT, MI- General Motors Co. CEO Mary Barra is returning to Capitol Hill today to discuss the company's exhaustive report into its delayed ignition switch recall that has been linked to at least 13 deaths.
This is the second time Barra will testify before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation since the ignition switch fiasco began in February. But this time, Barra will not be able to hide behind an ongoing investigation.
During her first trip to Capitol Hill on April 1, Barra answered many of the questions during the more than two and a half hour hearing with vague responses about the "new GM" and saying she did not know the answers to the questions, which is why the company is conducting its own internal investigation with former U.S. attorney Anton Valukas.
That investigation – released June 5 – is now complete and expected to be the centerpiece of today's hearing, which Valukas also will testify during.
Valukas' report – a product of more than 350 interviews with more than 230 people and analysis of more than 41 million documents – found evidence of "a pattern of management deficiencies and misjudgments," but no cover up by the corporation.
FILE - General Motors CEO Mary Barra testifies before Congress on April 1, 2014, left, and former U.S. Attorney Anton R. Valukas testifies before the House Financial Services Committee on April 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Charles Dharapak, File) The exhaustive report answers numerous questions that members of the committee questioned Barra on in April, but not all of them. According to a memo released Monday by the committee regarding the new hearing – entitled "The GM Ignition Switch Recall: Investigation Update" – members still have a number of questions.
Here are five things to watch for during today's hearing, which is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. on CSPAN-3:
5. Remaining questions: Committee members are expected to center around these questions, according to a memo released Monday:
Also, they weren't mentioned in the memo, but questions remain regarding the compensation program for victims and their families, being led by disaster response attorney Kenneth Feinberg; why the company continues to only count front-end collisions; and how many more recalls GM is expected to launch this year.
4. Pushy politicians: During her first trip to Capitol Hill, Barra was questioned by more than 20 members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation for over 2 1/2 hours.
House Oversight and Investigations subcommittee Chairman Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., watches at left as the subcommittee's ranking member, Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo. holds up a GM ignition switch, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 1, 2014, as General Motors CEO Mary Barra testified before the committee. The committee is looking for answers from Barra about safety defects and mishandled recall of 2.6 million small cars with a faulty ignition switch that's been linked to 13 deaths and dozen of crashes. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Members of the panel – particularly U.S. Rep Diana DeGette, D-Colo. – interrupted and cut Barra off numerous times during the hearing, as the 52-year-old exec tried to replace "yes" and "no" answers for longer ones that were many times focused on the "new GM" rather than the pre-bankrupt company that approved the ignition switches knowing they didn't meet the company's own specifications.
Expect even more pressure from members of the panel now that Barra should actually be able to answer the questions.
3. Compensation program: During her first time testifying before the committee, Barra announced GM had hired high-profile compensation attorney Kenneth Feinberg to evaluate a program for families of victims and those who have suffered serious physical injuries as the result of faulty ignition switches.
Although GM expects exact details of the compensation fund, including eligibility and rules in "the coming weeks" with GM ready to accept claims Aug. 1, expect a number of questions on the program.
2. Changes: Expect Barra to focus on the changes GM has already made as a result of Valukus' investigation, including the firing of 15 employees that acted inappropriately" or didn't do enough to flag the ignition switch defect. Five other employees were also been disciplined.
Other changes include restructuring its entire global engineering department in an effort to have better checks and balances; appointing Jeff Boyer as Vice President of Global Vehicle Safety, elevating and integrating GM's safety processes under a single leader; adding 35 product safety investigators that will allow GM to identify and address issues more quickly; and instituting the "Speak up for Safety" program encouraging employees to report potential safety issues quickly and forcefully.
1. New GM: As she did the first time around, expect Barra to preach about the "new GM" and condemn the actions of the pre-bankrupt company.
According to written testimony released Tuesday, Barra is expected to tell Congress that the company plans to continue overhauling its operations to make sure a situation like the delayed ignition switch recall never happens again.
"This isn't just another business challenge," reads Barra's prepared remarks. "This is a tragic problem that never should have happened. And it must never happen again."
Also expect Barra, who became CEO Jan. 15, to apologize numerous times for the company's previous handling of the deadly defect.
Click here for more on the GM's ignition switch recall.
Michael Wayland covers the automotive industry for MLive. Email him at MWayland@mlive.com & follow him on Twitter @MikeWayland or Google+.