The White House said this week that is “strongly opposes” Congressional efforts to reverse the decision General Motors and Chrysler made to cut some 2,000 dealers from their ranks, saying in an official statement that the cuts were a critical part of the automakers’ overall restructuring.

White House officials and executives from the New General Motors Corp. (GM) and Chrysler Group LLC last week met with congressional leaders in hopes of stopping legislation that would restore rights to dealers that the car companies were looking to close.

Congress is currently reviewing two stand-alone bills (H.R. 2743 and S. 1304), that would override a bankruptcy court ruling by restoring state motor vehicle franchise laws that pre-dated the bankruptcy filings. There is also an amendment to a financial services fiscal year 2010 appropriations bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee on July 7 that would require the automakers to restore terminated dealership franchise agreements. That bill is scheduled for House floor consideration this week.