Obama White House forces GM CEO to step down

President Obama was set to unveil his new overhaul of the auto industry at 11 a.m. on Monday, but early details of the plan were leaked on Sunday and became the morning newspaper headlines on Monday.

Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm told NBC's "Today Show" that Wagoner had become a "sacrificial lamb" in the auto industry overhaul even though he had been trying to turn the company around, she said.

The Obama administration reportedly rejected GM's viability plan, along with that of Chrysler, both of which have received billions of dollars in federal bailout money.

"We think we can have a successful U.S. auto industry," the president said on Sunday. "But it's got to be one that's realistically designed to weather this storm and to emerge _ at the other end _ much more lean, mean and competitive than it currently is," Obama told CBS's Bob Schieffer on "Face the Nation."

U.S. annual car sales have dropped from 17 million to 9 million in the past few years, creating a huge shift in demand in the midst of a deep economic recession. But the federal government has already spent $17.4 billion to bail out the auto industry in recent months.

Chrysler has received $4 billion in U.S. loans in December and requested an additional $5 billion this year. GM received $13.4 billion in loans and wanted $16.6 billion more.

The president's auto task force, led by Tim Geithner and Larry Summers, reviewed the proposals along with task force members from Treasury, Labor, Transportation, Commerce, Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency.