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The White House has offered to make President George W Bush's senior political advisor Karl Rove available to congressional investigators, but rejected Democratic demands he testify under oath regarding the firings of US attorneys.
In a letter to members of Congress, White House counsel Fred Fielding insisted he would not offer Rove and other aides to give sworn testimony as had been requested.
"Such interviews would be private and conducted without the need for an oath, transcript, subsequent testimony or the subsequent issuance of subpoenas," Fielding wrote.
Democratic lawmakers described the offer as unsatisfactory, saying they wanted the witnesses under oath. But they also said they would consider it before formally responding.
"It is sort of giving us the opportunity to talk to them, but not giving us the opportunity to get to the bottom of what really happened here," said Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat. "In that way, it is a pretty clever proposal."
Congressional committees plan to vote this week on whether to subpoena those who refuse to testify. They are particularly interested in hearing from Rove - one of his former aides was named to replace one of the prosecutors fired last year.
The White House said Bush would address the issue when he returned from Kansas City. Officials said Bush would reiterate his support for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and call on Congress to accept Fielding's offer.
The fallout over the dismissals of eight US attorneys has triggered a Democratic investigation over whether the action was politically motivated, and raised doubts about how long Attorney General Alberto Gonzales could remain in his job.
A number of Democrats and a few Republicans in Congress are calling for Gonzales to step aside.
Scrambling to contain the damage, Fielding was on Capitol Hill on Tuesday trying to arrange an agreement with the heads of the judiciary committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
In addition to Rove, Fielding offered Bush's former White House counsel Harriet Miers for interviews. Miers was initially blamed for coming up with the idea of firing all 93 US attorneys after Bush's re-election in 2004.
Also offered by Fielding were deputy White House counsel William Kelley and political adviser Scott Jennings.
"We believe that such interviews should be a last resort, and should be conducted, if needed, only after Congress has heard from Department of Justice officials about the decision to request the resignations of the US attorneys," Fielding wrote.
Critics charge that the administration dismissed the prosecutors to make room for its allies, or because it felt some were too tough on Republicans and not tough enough on Democrats.
Recently-released documents showed the administration had considered firing all the nation's 93 US attorneys at the end of president's first term. But later, according to the documents, it dismissed just eight.
The documents also showed the US attorneys were judged on such factors as their effectiveness as well as their loyalty to the administration and support of its initiatives.
