When it came to the now-infamous Solyndra loan guarantee, the Treasury Department's input during the approval process appears to have been more of an afterthought than a real check against government waste, according to the agency's top watchdog.

Although the Department of Energy manages the loan program, it was required to consult with Treasury before finalizing any deal under the law that governs the specific loan that Solyndra was granted in early 2009.

The National Republican Congressional Committee is once again aiming to link Democratic lawmakers and candidates to the now-bankrupt Solyndra solar company, making the company a symbol of what it called the White House's failed energy policy.

In news releases going into the districts of dozens of Democrats today, the NRCC seeks to link the 2009 stimulus package to rising consumer gasoline prices.

Republicans may have found a way to slow the momentum of the front-runner in the Maine Senate race.

The GOP is criticizing the Maine wind energy firm co-founded by former Gov. Angus King, an independent who is now seeking his state's open Senate seat, for receiving funding from the same controversial Energy Department loan guarantee program that also funded the now-bankrupt Solyndra solar company.

For all the talk over possible "smoking guns" that might show some wrongdoing on the part of the Obama administration on Solyndra or another Department of Energy loan, one House Republican acknowledged yesterday that multiple GOP probes on the subject are in some ways a play for votes on Election Day. In an interview after as he left yet another hearing in which Energy Secretary Steven Chu testified about the controversial loan program for clean energy companies, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio said that -- smoking gun or not -- Republicans are finding value in drawing attention to the more controversial aspects of the loan guarantee program.