GM Generali

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The Obama administration's new $5 billion program to aid auto parts suppliers came under fire Thursday from two influential Capitol Hill Republicans, who said the move could hurt the administration's relations with Congress.

Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Judd Gregg, R-N.H., accused the administration of going against previous pledges to limit aid to the industry to help with restructuring expenses for General Motors Corp. (GM) and Chrysler LLC.

The new lending facility, designed to prevent the collapse of the nation's biggest car-parts suppliers, "is a violation of trust and flies in the face of the administration's assurances that aid would only be given to General Motors and Chrysler and only be used for comprehensive restructuring," the senators said in a statement.

Corker went on to accuse the administration of using a "sleight of hand" that will "make it very difficult for them to win congressional support at a time when they really need it."

Gregg criticized the administration for using funds from the banking-rescue program - the Troubled Asset Relief Program - on the auto industry. "TARP money should be used for the purpose of stabilizing the financial system and not for industrial policy," he said in the statement.

-By Josh Mitchell, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6637; joshua.mitchell@dowjones.com