In fact, the Office of Management and Budget had signed off on a final rule on Nov. 14 and Transportation Secretary Mary Peters was at one point set to fly to Colorado to announce the final regulation. But officials opted not to announce it as Detroit's Big Three came to Capitol Hill seeking $34 billion in loans and a line of credit. The proposal issued in April followed a December 2007 law that required passenger cars and light trucks to meet 35 mpg by 2020, a 40 percent increase over current levels. In recent weeks, a growing split emerged in the Bush Administration over whether to issue the regulation, with Peters and others initially favoring releasing the regulation. Others didn't want to tie the hands of the Obama Administration, that will have to oversee the restructuring of Chrysler LLC and General Motors Corp. Chrysler received a $4 billion loan, while GM is to receive a total of $13.4 billion. Others also wondered how the administration could issue a new mandate that would cost more than twice what the government had just loaned automakers. The Treasury also agreed to invest $6 billion in GMAC, including giving GM $1 billion to buy stock in GMAC.