US Senate approves subpoena for Rove

A United States Senate panel, following the House of Representatives' lead, has authorised subpoenas for White House political adviser Karl Rove and other top aides involved in the sacking of federal prosecutors.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, by voice vote, approved the subpoenas following some heated exchanges between Republicans and Democrats over whether to press a showdown with President George Bush regarding the sacking of eight US attorneys.

Democrats angrily rejected Bush's offer to grant a limited number of politicians private interviews with the aides with no transcript and without swearing them in. Republicans asked for restraint.

A House Judiciary subcommittee authorised subpoenas in the matter yesterday, but none has been issued.

Democrats said the move would give them more bargaining power in negotiating with the White House to hear from Bush's closest advisers.

"We're authorising that ability but we're not issuing them," Senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat, said of the subpoenas. "It'll only strengthen our hand in getting to the bottom of this."

Republicans said, however, that subpoenas were premature.

"I counsel my colleagues, both Democrats and Republicans, to work hard to avoid an impasse," said Senator Arlen Specter, the panel's top Republican. "We don't need a constitutional confrontation."

Even as Democrats derided the White House's offer, Bush spokesman Tony Snow maintained that politicians will realise it is fair and reasonable once they reflect on it.

"We're not trying to hide things," he said. "We're not trying to run from things. We want them to know what happened."

Democrats, however, called Bush's position untenable.

"What we're told we can get is nothing, nothing, nothing," said Senator Patrick Leahy, a Democrat and the judiciary chairman. "I know he's the decider for the White House - he's not the decider for the United States Senate."

Attorney general Alberto Gonzales, fighting for his job amid the prosecutor furore, vowed he would not step aside and promised to co-operate with Congress in the inquiry.

"I'm not going to resign," Gonzales, who runs the Justice Department which supervises the attorneys, told reporters.

"No US attorney was fired for improper reasons," he added.

Snow, in a TV interview, accused supporters of subpoenas of wanting a scene where people are showing off, "grandstanding and trying to score political points".

"I know a lot of people want this 'Showdown at the OK Corral' kind of thing," he said. "People might have a beef if we were withholding anything. We're not."

Even as both sides dug in publicly, prominent politicians worked behind the scenes to avert a court battle between the executive and legislative branches.

Specter, the panel's senior Republican, is working to cut a deal with the White House to avoid having to issue the subpoenas.

Bush is standing by Gonzales, even as Republicans and Democrats question the attorney general's leadership. The president insists that the sackings of the prosecutors over the past year were appropriate, while Democrats argue they were politically motivated.

The prosecutors are appointed to four-year terms by the president and serve at his pleasure, meaning they can dismissed at any time.

Democrats have rejected Bush's offer - relayed to Congress by White House counsel Fred Fielding - in large part because there would be no transcript and the testimony would not be public.

Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic majority leader, said it would be "outrageous" to allow Rove to testify off the record.

"Anyone who would take that deal isn't playing with a full deck," Reid said.

In a letter, Leahy and Specter formally asked Gonzales' former top aide Kyle Sampson - who has resigned amid the prosecutors row - to testify "on a voluntary basis" next week before the judiciary panel.

The double-barrelled House and Senate actions do not guarantee an impasse.

With authorisations in hand, the Democratic chairmen of the judiciary panels, Representative John Conyers, a Democrat, and Leahy can issue subpoenas at any time, but they have not done so yet.

They also could continue to negotiate with the White House, with the threat of subpoenas as a bargaining chip.