The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to authorize subpoenas to compel testimony from White House aides in the burgeoning dispute over fired federal prosecutors.
But the White House continued to resist demands for such testimony and rejected a proposed compromise that might have allowed lawmakers to privately question aides such as Karl Rove. The administration turned down the proposal by Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania because it called for the creation of a transcript of the questions and answers.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who touched off the flap by firing eight U.S. attorneys, made clear he has no intention of stepping down.
“I’m not going to resign,” he told journalists in St. Louis. “No United States attorney was fired for improper reasons.”
Although both the Senate and House have authorized subpoenas for Rove, former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and their deputies, neither chamber has actually issued the subpoenas. That’s because President Bush would then be expected to assert executive privilege, which might ultimately send the dispute to the Supreme Court.
Sen. Charles Schumer, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Democrats are not yet prepared to take that step. White House officials said the moment subpoenas are issued, the administration will withdraw its offer to allow Rove and Miers to answer questions privately, with no recordings or transcripts.
“We’re authorizing that ability but we’re not issuing them,” said Schumer, D-N.Y. “It’ll only strengthen our hand in getting to the bottom of this.”
The White House interpreted that wait-and-see attitude as a hopeful sign.
“Maybe I’m being too optimistic, but I’ve noted that there’s been sort of a moderation in some of the rhetoric in the last 24 hours,” White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said.
Democrats have accused the administration of firing the prosecutors for overly political reasons. Bush has denied political motivations, but emphasized he can hire and fire appointees as he sees fit.
However, the administration has acknowledged botching the explanation of the firings. Justice Department officials gave lawmakers the false impression that Rove and Miers were not part of the deliberations over the firings.
