WASHINGTON - With Congress gridlocked and the economy floundering, the Bush administration declared Friday it would step in to prevent the "precipitous collapse"? of the U.S. auto industry and the disastrous loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs sure to follow.

A day after the sudden demise of rescue legislation in Congress, General Motors officials were talking with the administration and the Federal Reserve about how carmakers could still get the billions of dollars they say they need to survive. The talks included conditions that automakers would have to meet, said GM spokesman Greg Martin.

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