General Motors job cuts of more than 14,000, elimination of six car brands by year-end 2019 and $10.5 billion in cost savings and expense reductions aimed at focusing on self-driving and electric vehicles have spurred continuing criticism from President Trump and lawmakers.

General Motors (NYSE:GM), still profitable after receiving billions of dollars in funds from the federal government to emerge from its 2009 Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is insisting that the cuts need to be pursued before the cyclical industry’s next downturn. However, the plan has managed to unite Republicans and Democrats in Washington from states such as Michigan, Ohio and Maryland, where factories may close amid GM’s goal of developing next-generation battery-electric vehicle architectures.

The brands slated for termination are the Chevrolet Volt, a hybrid electric car; Chevrolet Cruze, a compact car offered both as a hatchback and sedan; the full-size Chevrolet Impala; the Cadillac CT6, a turbo-engine luxury car; the full-size luxury Cadillac XTS; and the Buick LaCrosse, yet another full-size luxury sedan. The elimination of four full-size car brands and the preservation of all of GM’s crossover vehicles, pickups and sports utility vehicles (SUVs) reveals what GM’s management views as expendable, compared to products its leaders expect to fuel the company’s future growth in the years ahead.

General Motors plans to trim 15 percent of its 54,000 North American salaried and contract jobs, as well as 25 percent of its executive positions. The reduced number of executives will help to “streamline decision making,” according to the company.

GM’s announcement that it will stop building cars at six plants in Michigan, Ohio, Maryland and Ontario, Canada, puts upwards of 6,000 hourly manufacturing jobs at risk.

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Paul Dykewicz, www.pauldykewicz.com, is an accomplished, award-winning journalist who has written for Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, USA Today, the Journal of Commerce,Seeking Alpha, GuruFocus and other publications and websites. Paul is the editor of StockInvestor.com and DividendInvestor.com, a writer for both websites and a columnist. He further is the editorial director of Eagle Financial Publications in Washington, D.C., where he edits monthly investment newsletters, time-sensitive trading alerts, free e-letters and other investment reports. Paul previously served as business editor of Baltimore’s Daily Record newspaper. Paul also is the author of an inspirational book, “Holy Smokes! Golden Guidance from Notre Dame’s Championship Chaplain,” with a foreword by former national championship-winning football coach Lou Holtz.