Tuesday was the deadline for the U.S. Treasury Department to turn over all requested documents related to the handling of Delphi retiree pensions, according to an ultimatum given to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner last month.

U.S. Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Mike Turner, R-Centerville, wrote Geithner on Sept. 27, warning him that if the documents were not turned over by Tuesday, the committee “will be forced to consider use of compulsory process” — i.e., subpoenas.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services, U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus, has written to U.S. Rep. Dave Camp, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, expressing his support for that committee’s investigation into the disposition of Delphi pensions.

“The support of another chairman is a big step for Delphi salaried retirees, as their cause continues to gain momentum in Congress,” said Thomas Crosson, a spokesman for Turner.

Delphi, then in bankruptcy, turned over its pension obligations to the federally backed Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. in July 2009. PBGC funding can result in lower pension payments, and Delphi salaried retirees — including anywhere from 800 to 2000 in the Dayton area — say their pensions have been cut by up to 70 percent.

But General Motors, which once owned Delphi, paid the difference between PBGC pension payments and contractually promised amounts only for Delphi hourly retirees, not for salaried retirees. Salaried retirees have questioned why GM did this for union-represented retirees while GM went through its own stint in bankruptcy protection, contending the automaker was not legally obligated to do so.

The salaried retirees are suing the PBGC in federal court for restoration of their pensions.