WASHINGTON

The $25-billion US rescue plan for the auto industry, desperately sought by Detroit's beleaguered Big Three, collapsed yesterday as the U.S. Congress drew the line at one more bailout and Democrats said they wouldn't even consider it until the companies produced a convincing plan for rebuilding their once-mighty industry.

The demise of the rescue -- at least for now -- left uncertain the fate of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC.

The carmakers have been clobbered by lacklustre sales and choked credit, and are battling to stay afloat through year's end. Failure of one or more of the Big Three would be a severe further blow to the floundering economy -- and to many Americans' view of the country's industrial strength -- and throw a million or more additional workers off the job.

The U.S. government reported just yesterday that laid-off workers' new claims for jobless aid had reached a 16-year high and the number of Americans searching for work had soared past 10 million.

Congress approved a measure to extend jobless benefits through the holidays, and the White House said President George W. Bush would quickly sign it.

Rejection of the latest bailout plan by House leaders postponed until next month a politically tricky decision for the Democratic Congress on whether to approve yet another unpopular emergency plan at a time of economic peril, or risk being blamed for the implosion of an industry that employs millions and has broad reach into all aspects of the U.S. economy.

"Until they show us the plan, we cannot show them the money,'' Speaker Nancy Pelosi, (D-Calif.), said at a hastily called news conference in the Capitol.

GM, Ford and Chrysler quickly issued statements promising to submit the blueprint the Democrats demanded.

Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, (D-Nev.), said Congress might return to work in early December for a vote on aid to the carmakers -- but only if they show Congress they could use the funds to transform their struggling industry into a viable one.

For now, however, the Democrats said the aid plan lacked the support to pass Congress and be signed by Bush.

The chief executives of the Big Three automakers appealed personally to lawmakers for the loans this week, saying their problem was the economic meltdown that has walloped their industry -- not that they were manufacturing unappealing cars.

But whatever support they found sagged when it became known that each of them had flown into Washington aboard multimillion-dollar corporate jets.

Reid observed that was "difficult to explain'' to taxpayers in his hometown of Searchlight, Nev.

Pelosi said she had little patience left for excuses from the carmakers on why they haven't turned their businesses around.

Beyond the auto industry, lawmakers said the public has little appetite for anything else that smacks of a bailout, following the backlash against the $700 billion financial rescue.

With GM warning it could go under before year's end, Democratic leaders were unwilling to close up shop for the year and appear to turn a deaf ear to the industry.

The White House criticized the delay.