Gibbs: Obama hasn't talked to Hayward because BP board calls the shots

Updated 5:46 p.m.
By Michael D. Shear
When President Obama was asked by NBC's Matt Lauer why he had not yet called the CEO of BP about the Gulf oil spill, he said he assumed CEO's just told presidents things they wanted to hear.

On Wednesday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs had another answer.

Gibbs said Obama hasn't called CEO Tony Hayward because -- according to what Gibbs called the "executive structure of corporate governance" -- the CEO alone isn't the final word on company decisions, which are made by the board of directors.

"Look, the CEO is elected by the board. Anything that the CEO wants to do has to be approved by the board," Gibbs said.

Later, he added: "I'm telling you, based on the corporate governance structure, in order to implement what -- whatever you get from BP the CEO has to get clearance from the board to do. That's -- that's the corporate governance structure is -- is laid out."

So did that mean that Obama had picked up the phone to talk to some of these powerful board members?

No.

Gibbs said repeatedly that the government is in contact with officials at the company. And he pointed several times to a meeting demanded by Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen Wednesday to discuss the claims payment procedures with BP officials.

But pressed on the question of direct contact between Obama and Hayward, Gibbs repeatedly returned to the idea that it was the board -- not the CEO -- that would be calling the shots.

"Again, again, the CEO plays a role, but the way their board is devised, the chairman of the board and the board OK what happens," Gibbs said.

There are eight non-executive members of the BP board (not counting Hayward and the five other company executives who sit on the board.) Asked whether Obama had made efforts to talk to them, Gibbs said he had not. He said the government is "in constant communication with and pushing BP to do what is necessary."

Obama has met with CEOs from a wide range of companies repeatedly during his year-and-a-half in office. In fact, when the president became angry about banks giving big bonuses to their executives after taking bailout funds, he scolded them in person during a meeting at the White House.

And just last month, it was the West Wing which was bragging that Obama had bluntly chided Exxon Mobile CEO Rex Tillerson at a May 3 dinner, telling him that he expected the entire petroleum industry to dedicate its resources to the spill cleanup.

In his comments Wednesday, Gibbs declined to say whether Obama is planning to meet with Hayward when the CEO testifies before Congress next week, saying that "if I've got any scheduling updates, I'll let you know."

He also indicated that he didn't see much value in such a face-to-face meeting.

"Well, again, we are -- we're in -- we're in contact with BP about what they need to do," Gibbs said.

By Michael D. Shear  |  June 9, 2010; 5:13 PM ET