--- title: More Trouble for GM and Mary Barra description: Documents released by the House Oversight Committee show the engineer who designed the faulty ignition switch at the heart of the GM recall of 2.6 million cars in February had approved fixes to the system eight years ago without changing the part number canonical: https://time.com/60042/more-trouble-for-gm-and-mary-barra/ author: Massimo Calabresi article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-11T23:07:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:16:34.153Z article:section: Politics og:title: More Trouble for GM and Mary Barra og:description: Documents released by the House Oversight Committee show the engineer who designed the faulty ignition switch at the heart of the GM recall of 2.6 million cars in February had approved fixes to the system eight years ago without changing the part number og:url: https://time.com/60042/more-trouble-for-gm-and-mary-barra/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5de16e40319e0c0b/69868a4b169ab0731d278c43/481996057.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3976 og:image:height: 2237 og:image:alt: GM CEO Mary Barra Testifies At Senate Hearing On GM Recall og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: More Trouble for GM and Mary Barra twitter:description: Documents released by the House Oversight Committee show the engineer who designed the faulty ignition switch at the heart of the GM recall of 2.6 million cars in February had approved fixes to the system eight years ago without changing the part number twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5de16e40319e0c0b/69868a4b169ab0731d278c43/481996057.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # More Trouble for GM and Mary Barra > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=3095efe8-7267-4111-b7d8-a32dd72cb76f&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Massimo Calabresi](https://time.com/author/massimo-calabresi/)  ## Massimo Calabresi Calabresi is TIME’s Washington bureau chief. Apr 11, 2014 11:07 PM UTC  Mary Theresa Ruddy, right, and her husband Leo Ruddy hold a photo of their daughter Kelly Erin Ruddy, who was 21 when she died in a car accident in 2010 involving her 2005 Chevy Cobalt, as General Motors CEO Mary Barra testifies before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Capitol Hill, April 2, 2014 in Washington, DC. Mary Theresa Ruddy, right, and her husband Leo Ruddy hold a photo of their daughter Kelly Erin Ruddy, who was 21 when she died in a car accident in 2010 involving her 2005 Chevy Cobalt, as General Motors CEO Mary Barra testifies before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Capitol Hill, April 2, 2014 in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson—Getty Images  by [Massimo Calabresi](https://time.com/author/massimo-calabresi/)  ## Massimo Calabresi Calabresi is TIME’s Washington bureau chief. Apr 11, 2014 11:07 PM UTC The engineer who designed the faulty ignition switch at the heart of the February GM recall of 2.6 million cars approved fixes to the system in 2006 without changing the GM part number, according to documents released by the House Oversight Committee on Friday. The faulty design allowed the ignition switch to turn off accidentally, cutting power to electrical systems including air bags and assisted steering. The 2006 fix was intended to make electrical cut-offs less likely, the released documents show. Thirteen deaths have been linked to the failure. The engineer, Ray DeGiorgio, testified under oath in April 2013 that he was unaware of the changes to the switch. The head of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, said, “much work remains to be done in this investigation. Documents show individuals at GM allowed vehicles with safety concerns to remain on the road for almost a decade, resulting in at least 13 fatalities.” Also in the documents released by the committee Friday is an e-mail to current GM chief Mary Barra dated Oct. 3, 2011, informing her of continuing failures with electric power steering in GM models. Barra apologized for GM’s handling of the ignition switch problem during testimony earlier this month and said she didn’t learn about the ignition switch problem until January. The email released Friday refers only to potential electric power steering issues, not ignition problems. 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