Solyndra | featured news

The Obama administration engaged in a 'pattern' of approving loans that were not qualified to receive taxpayer money, says one Republican House chairman, calling the development as disturbing as the loss of millions of dollars given to bankrupt solar power company Solyndra.

The official inquired frequently about the progress of the loan even after he had disclosed that his wife’s law firm represented the company and promised to recuse himself.

Jonathan Silver, the executive director of the Energy Department's Loan Programs Office, stepped down from that position amid scrutiny from congressional Republicans over loans granted to the now-bankrupt energy firm Solyndra. Energy Secretary Steve Chu told the Post that the departure had been planned.

The Energy Department plans to give $156 million in grants on Thursday after it has been under scrutiny for arranging $528 million in loans to Solyndra, a company that went bankrupt.

Industry analysts and government auditors say the administration failed to take note of trouble already evident in the solar energy marketplace.

Leaders of a House subcommittee want to make the Obama administration answer for putting taxpayers on the hook for a half-billion-dollar loan to a now-bankrupt solar panel manufacturer. A hearing Wednesday will examine what went wrong ...

FBI agents on Thursday were searching the offices of a California solar energy company touted by President Barack Obama that recently halted operations, FBI spokesman Peter Lee confirmed to CNN. Search warrants were executed at the Fremont, California, offices of Solyndra, which recently filed for bankruptcy, in a joint operation involving the FBI and the Department of Energy, Lee said.