US:The Senate judiciary committee has followed the House of Representatives in approving subpoenas for presidential adviser Karl Rove and other senior White House aides involved in the firing of eight US attorneys, or federal prosecutors, writes Denis Stauntonin Washington.
Democrats rejected the administration's offer to make Mr Rove, former White House counsel Harriet Miers and others available for interviews which would be conducted in private, not under oath and with no transcripts made available to the public.
Senate judiciary committee chairman Patrick Leahy said the president's refusal to allow his aides to testify under oath was untenable.
"What we're told we can get is nothing, nothing, nothing. I know he's the decider for the White House - he's not the decider for the United States Senate," Mr Leahy said.
Although both houses of Congress have approved the subpoenas, they have stopped short of issuing them, a move that would almost certainly provoke a protracted legal battle with the White House over the principle of executive privilege. Successive presidents have argued that their discussions with advisers should be allowed to be kept secret, although the Supreme Court has not always upheld that view.
The court rejected Richard Nixon's attempt to use executive privilege to keep the Watergate tapes secret and subsequent presidents, including Bill Clinton and President George Bush, have usually compromised with congress during disputes over executive privilege.
White House spokesman Tony Snow suggested yesterday that a compromise could yet be agreed with congress.
"I think members are still thinking this through. I don't think members are all that eager to have a big fight either. We don't want a fight. So I think one of the things you need to look for in the next couple of days, or maybe even a few more days, is let people think this through. This is not something that's going to be decided overnight," he said.
The White House is eager to avoid what Mr Snow has described as a "show trial", with pictures of Mr Rove raising his right hand to take an oath before testifying.
"These ought to be interviews. This should not be a deposition; this should not have a feel of a trial. These are people who are going to come here and give you the facts you need. Furthermore, everybody knows that the way the law is written, you're compelled to tell the truth. So we see that as an unnecessary add-on and one that we don't think adds anything to the content that members of congress are going to receive," Mr Snow said.
Attorney general Alberto Gonzales yesterday restated his determination to stay in his job despite criticism from both parties over the way the prosecutors were fired. Mr Gonzales yesterday received support from former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination.
"The attorney general's an honourable man. He's a decent man. He should be given a chance to explain and everybody should sort of give him the benefit of the doubt and allow him to explain," Mr Giuliani said.