By Andrew Rustuccia – 9/14/2012

House Republicans approved legislation Friday aimed at reining in the Energy Department’s loan guarantee program, bringing the GOP’s 18-month Solyndra investigation to an end.

It’s a big win for House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), the authors of the bill.

In addition to phasing out the loan guarantee program, the legislation imposes penalties on federal officials who put private investors ahead of taxpayers for repayment in the event that a loan guarantee recipient goes bankrupt. Republicans have blasted the DOE for “subordinating” the interests of the taxpayers to those of investors who agreed to put more money into Solyndra during the February 2011 restructuring of the loan guarantee.

Link to full story