WASHINGTON -- The Detroit 3 CEOs are calling on congressional leaders to fully fund a $25 billion loan program for the industry and to change restrictions attached to the money that may impede its benefit for the struggling companies.

The requests came in a joint letter from the executives this week.

The three also held a series of meetings on Capitol Hill Wednesday, including a joint one with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and several chairmen of House committees.

Chrysler LLC CEO Bob Nardelli, in brief remarks to reporters afterwards, said the sessions were "very encouraging, very candid, very straightforward."

Asked by Automotive News about the purpose of meeting with someone who already agrees with funding the loans, Nardelli said:

"All three of us wanted to continue to show our support, continue to convey the importance of this legislation, to make sure at this critical time, within the next several days, that it continues to move forward."

He said that "time is critically important" in getting loans approved.

Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally could be heard only to say "it was a great day" on Capitol Hill.

General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner, who has spoken to Washington reporters several times since last Friday, walked away without comment.

Legal hurdles

One possible reason for the Pelosi meeting: How to overcome an apparent legal hurdle to changing restrictions on the money.

The energy law enacted last December, creating the low-interest loan program but not funding it, set a series of conditions on the money, which were not given much thought at the time, one high-ranking industry lobbyist said privately.

But now that automakers and suppliers are serious about accessing funds, they see that some conditions would make using the money impractical. The main one requires that loan funding go to projects that help create vehicles with 25 percent higher fuel economy that comparable vehicles -- a very high bar.

Wagoner said last week that gains are typically made in smaller increments.

Plus, executives note, they are incurring big costs converting factories from building trucks that burn more fuel to assembling cars that burn less fuel. So, the new products save fuel, as the energy law envisioned, but they are nowhere near 25 percent better than comparable vehicles. Such a plant overhaul would not qualify for a loan.

The fine print

The legal hitch: The legislation to which loan funding is likely to be attached is a catchall spending bill designed to keep government running in the new fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. There are limits on the changes to existing law that can be inserted into such a spending measure.

Pelosi already has committed to trying to provide funding for the loan program before lawmakers break for elections at the end of this month.

But she has not made clear if she is willing to change restrictions on the use of the money or how that would be accomplished.

The "full funding" issue is also a subject of discussion.

Even though the $25 billion loan program is on the books, Congress and the White House have to agree to a funding provision to unleash the loans.

Estimates of the funding needed range from $3.75 billion to $7.5 billion -- and many other programs are competing for government money in the closing days of the 2008 fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30.

At the White House Wednesday, Press Secretary Dana Perino dodged a question about whether the administration considers automakers too big to let fail, like American International Group, or subject to market forces, like Lehman Brothers.

She said the Treasury Department should get that question, and she said the White House isn't reacting to the loan funding request until Congress decides whether to move forward.