UPDATE 2-U.S. vows to be passive investor in GM, Chrysler

* Autos task force monitoring stress on parts suppliers

* US role limited to picking board at GM, Chrysler-Bloom

* Success will be judged by payback for taxpayers -Bloom

* GM, Chrysler seek Energy Department loans-Treasurers
(Adds details on Energy Department loan applications, comments
from GM and Chrysler treasurers)

By Kevin Krolicki

DETROIT, July 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury will not
step in to influence management decisions at General Motors Co
[GM.UL] and Chrysler LLC after providing the automakers with
some $70 billion in financing to restructure in bankruptcy, a
White House adviser said on Monday.

"The Obama administration is a reluctant shareholder in New
General Motors as well as New Chrysler," Ron Bloom, the senior
adviser to the White House-appointed auto task force, told a
congressional oversight panel meeting in Detroit in prepared
remarks.

Bloom said the emergency government assistance had
prevented a liquidation in bankruptcy for two of the three U.S.
automakers, but added that "in a better world, the choice to
intervene would not have had to be made."

Bloom said the success of the Obama administration's
efforts to save GM and Chrysler will be judged now on how fully
and quickly taxpayer funding is repaid.

An initial public offering of stock in the restructured GM
could come as soon as 2010 and include some combination of new
shares and the sale of government-held stock, Bloom said.

"The taxpayers put a lot of money up, and they want their
money back," he said.

Bloom was answering questions from a panel appointed in
2008 to review the use of $700 billion earmarked to stabilize
financial markets under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The panel, which is headed by Harvard Law School professor
Elizabeth Warren, convened on Monday to hear from officials,
executives and other experts on the auto industry bailout.

The U.S. government backed a swift sale of the best assets
of GM and Chrysler to new companies through the bankruptcy
process and holds a majority stake in the new GM. Chrysler is
owned by a group led by Italy's Fiat SpA (FIA.MI).

GM and Chrysler both received emergency loans before and
during the bankruptcy process, and both seek more loans under a
separate Department of Energy program that supports converting
factories to build more fuel-efficient vehicles.

GM EXPECTS LOAN CONSIDERATION

The program requires loan recipients to be "viable" and GM
and Chrysler had not qualified previously.

"We would expect that with us being a viable company now
that those will be looked at," GM Treasurer Walter Borst told
the panel of the Energy Department loan application.

Chrysler Treasurer Jan Bertsch told the panel the automaker
applied for Energy Department loans a year ago "and expect that
we will be borrowing under that as outlined in our plan."

Congressional and other auto industry sources believe the
Energy Department will act soon on GM and Chrysler requests for
technology loans now that they have completed their bankruptcy
restructurings and are considered viable.

GM has sought financing for three projects totaling roughly
$10.5 billion. GM has not detailed its application but it is
investing heavily in the electric Volt. Chrysler's application
includes $448 million for all-electric and hybrid vehicles.

The Obama administration is also expected to announce $2
billion in grant money for automotive battery research soon.
Automakers will share in those awards, officials said.

Ford Motor Co (F.N), which avoided seeking emergency U.S.
government loans that propped up GM and Chrysler, was awarded
up to $5.9 billion of loans through 2011 under the program.

Ford, the No. 2 U.S. automaker, has said it has the
liquidity it needs to complete a turnaround on its own.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a Texas Republican who sits on the
TARP oversight panel, pressed Bloom on whether the support for
Chrysler and GM had put Ford at a competitive disadvantage.

"I'm wondering if the federal government might contribute
to the economic demise of Ford," Hensarling said.

Bloom said he could not answer how and whether the
administration might respond to a future request for aid from
Ford if that were to happen.

"I don't have a crystal ball," Bloom said. "The facts and
circumstances at the time would determine how a request from
Ford would be evaluated."

Bloom said U.S. officials would take a hands-off approach
on decisions GM and Chrysler make on their turnaround plans.

Now that GM and Chrysler have selected new board members,
the U.S. Treasury will not have any involvement until those
just-appointed slates of directors are up for election next
year, Bloom said.

"That will be the full extent of it," he said in response
to a question from Warren.

Chrysler's new board of directors meets this week for the
first time since it emerged from bankruptcy in June.
(Additional reporting by David Bailey in Detroit and John
Crawley in Washington, editing by Matthew Lewis)