The U.S. Transportation Department said yesterday that it has paid more than a third of vouchers they gave consumers under the Cash for Clunkers program. As of yesterday morning, the U.S. government has paid a total of $1.22 billion for 289,000 vouchers.

That totals 42.4 percent of the $2.88 billion applied for by dealers under the government incentive, reports Automotive News.

“We’ll meet our deadline,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. ”Every dealer will be paid if they provided us the accurate information.”

The Obama administration has set a Sept. 30 deadline to reimburse most of properly filed claims.

- By: Stephen Calogera