March 22 (Bloomberg) -- A Senate panel probing the firing of eight U.S. attorneys joined a House subcommittee in authorizing subpoenas to compel testimony by Karl Rove, President George W. Bush's top political adviser, and other White House officials.

By voice vote the Senate Judiciary Committee today gave its chairman, Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont, power to issue the subpoenas -- rebuffing a plea by Republicans to delay the move and seek a compromise. Leahy said the White House won't budge.

``It was a take-it-or-leave-it offer,'' Leahy said of the Bush administration's position. ``What we are told we can get is nothing, nothing, nothing. That is not what the American people want.''

Today, White House spokesman Tony Snow rejected a compromise proposed by Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee. Specter suggested that White House aides testify in private without taking an oath but that the session be transcribed. The Bush administration opposes an official transcript.

``Our offer is our offer,'' Snow said when asked about Specter's idea. ``It's a no.''

During the committee debate, Specter warned that a subpoena fight with the White House wouldn't help determine whether the firings were ordered to thwart political corruption cases against Republicans or to remove prosecutors who properly declined to bring voter fraud cases against Democrats.

``If we have the confrontation, we are not going to get this information for a long time,'' Specter said.

Optimistic About Negotiations

Even with Snow's rejection, Specter told reporters that he is still optimistic the Bush White House is open to negotiations.

``The president never said it was a final offer. Tony Snow said it was a final offer,'' Specter said. ``The president was explicit'' that ``he was making a proposal.''

Later in the day, Specter told reporters he had outlined his proposal in a telephone call with White House Counsel Fred Fielding. ``He would take my suggestion to the president,'' Specter said.

Asked about Specter's proposal, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the committee ``should exhaust all those possibilities'' because ``Specter is very good at trying to work these things out.''

Reid said the subpoenas may be issued after Congress returns from an Easter recess on April 10.

He said Congress should require Rove to take an oath because he ``came this close to being indicted'' in the investigation of who leaked the name of CIA agent Valerie Plame. Former vice presidential aide I. Lewis Libby was convicted March 6 of lying to investigators in the only criminal case sparked by the leak.

`Under Oath'

``When you are dealing with a cast of characters we have, one might want to consider it, putting them under oath,'' Reid said. `People should be under oath, at least Karl Rove.''

Robert Luskin, a lawyer for Rove, said Reid's remarks are uncalled for. ``Due process is not about pursuing the results you want,'' Ruskin said. ``Senator Reid should show a healthier respect for our system of justice than his unwarranted remarks reflect.''

Yesterday, a House subcommittee took a step toward a possible constitutional confrontation with Bush by authorizing Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat, to issue subpoenas. The panel approved the subpoena authority by voice vote over Republican objections.

The White House countered with a threat to withdraw its offer to produce Rove and other White House aides for private interviews if Congress takes the further step of actually issuing subpoenas.

Defending Gonzales

Bush is also resisting calls by Democrats and some Republicans for the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales over his handling of the prosecutor firings.

``I'm not going to resign,'' Gonzales told reporters today during an appearance in St. Louis. ``I'm going to go up to Congress and provide further clarification about what happened here.''

Snow said yesterday the White House wanted Rove and the other aides to testify in private because ``what we want to avoid is the trappings of a media spectacle.''

Today's vote authorized subpoenas for Rove, former White House counsel Harriet Miers and William Kelley, her former deputy.

D. Kyle Sampson, who resigned March 12 as Gonzales's chief of staff, requested a postponement of his scheduled March 29 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sampson's lawyer, Bradford Berenson, cited personal schedule conflicts in a letter to the panel. He didn't say whether Sampson would agree to testify voluntarily without being subpoenaed.

Brewing Battle

The battle over the removal of the U.S. attorneys has been brewing for weeks. The Justice Department said it dismissed the eight prosecutors for poor performance and over their policy differences with administration officials in Washington.

Those assertions were contradicted by high-performance ratings given many of the prosecutors' offices.

Internal e-mails later revealed that White House aides had played a role in firing the prosecutors, and Democrats said Congress must determine whether the dismissals were for improper political motives.

There are 93 U.S. attorneys, appointed to four-year terms by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

Senate Republicans have been slow to rally around Bush's plan for closed-door testimony and have offered little, if any, defense of the firings.

`Private Interview'

``I don't really like the private interview,'' Texas Republican John Cornyn, a Bush ally and friend of Rove, said in an interview. ``Senators then come out in the hallway and give their own version of what was said.''

Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn said, ``The ineptitude of how this was handled is astounding to me.'' Coburn said he would support subpoenas later if the committee can't get the information it needs from private interviews.

One Republican, Iowa Senator Charles Grassley, said he supported issuing the subpoenas because the Bush administration had thwarted his efforts to get information during other investigations.

Specter said he was silent when the voice vote was recorded. ``I just sat there hoping it would all go away through negotiation,'' he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: James Rowley in Washington at jarowley@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 22, 2007 18:56 EDT