The panel will consist of current administration officials such as Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner and economic adviser Lawrence Summers, along with input from other officials across a spectrum of federal agencies. Obama’s administration will balance the desires of the auto industry for more billions in government bailout funds vs. a possible bankruptcy for the automakers and what that could mean for the economy. The Presidential Task Force will also include a seat at the table for Big Labor, with special assistant to the president of United Steelworkers, Ron Bloom, expected to be appointed to the task force. Bloom is considered to be an expert on retiree healthcare funds.

GM and Chrysler, meanwhile, are finishing up their plans for viability, after which they’ll negotiate with the government until a March 31 final deadline for reports. GM has already stopped and restarted concessions talks with UAW once over this weekend; the concessions from unions (and also from debtors) are required strings attached to further bailout money.

Without further money, GM and Chrysler will most likely go into bankruptcy. On the Sunday morning news shows, Obama’s top aide David Axelrod did not divulge whether Obama would allow GM to go into bankruptcy or what effect that could have on the economy. GM and Chrysler execs have said that consumers would not buy autos from a carmaker in bankruptcy.

UPDATE: Despite earlier intimations, the White House has announced that the panel will not be announced today. Press secretary Robert Gibbs declined to confirm whether Obama had considered any candidates for car czar before deciding to appoint a task force instead.

Forbes takes a dim view of this development:

“It amounts to a second, government-dominated board of directors for the two companies. Are two boards better than a single, empowered manager who could oversee the restructuring? With a committee in charge, no one person can take the credit–or the blame–for the still undetermined fates of Chrysler and GM. Committees are also notoriously sluggish and unwieldy.”