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U.S. President Barack Obama's administration has told General Motors Corp. (GM) to "address" the possibility of the company eventually filing for bankruptcy protection in a progress report due to the government Tuesday, Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., said Monday.

"They've been asked to address the issue of bankruptcy in their plan but not to have that as an alternative plan," Levin said in a phone interview. "That's my understanding."

Levin said he learned of the administration's request from a "very, very good source" but declined to elaborate.

Attempts to obtain comment from the White House Monday were unsuccessful, and a GM spokesman declined to comment.

On Sunday, David Axelrod, a senior adviser to Obama, declined to rule out a government-backed bankruptcy as an option for restructuring the auto industry.

"We're going to need a major restructuring of these companies," Axelrod said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "How that restructuring comes is something that has to be determined."

Levin said he and other auto-industry allies in Congress maintain that a bankruptcy filing by a domestic auto maker would be disastrous to both the auto industry and the broader economy.

The plan that GM is scheduled to submit to the Treasury Department on Tuesday is supposed to describe how the company will restructure to ensure its long-term viability.

GM and Detroit rival Chrysler LLC have received the first installment of a combined $17.4 billion in government loans and could receive the next installment if their plans pass muster.

Also Monday, the Obama Administration was expected to name a presidential task force to oversee the auto industry's restructuring. The task force, which would take the place of a previous proposal for a "car czar" to handle the job, will be composed of officials from various administrative agencies and likely an outsider - reportedly Ron Bloom, a special assistant to the president of the United Steelworkers union and a former investment banker.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters Monday that the announcement of the team could come shortly.

Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., said it was crucial that the task force include members with a background in the auto industry.

"It's one of the fundamental ways that government does the right thing," McCotter said in a phone interview. "Because if there's a problem, go to the people who deal with it every day and find out how you think they should fix it."

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