In this paper we study the
semisimplicity problem for group rings of linear groups. We prove the linear group
analog of a result which constitutes part of the solution of the semisimplicity problem
for solvable groups. Since all of the necessary group ring lemmas have appeared
elsewhere, the work here is strictly group theoretic. We consider the possibility of
a linear group being covered by a finite union of root sets of centralizer
subgroups.