Senate may subpoena White House aide Karl Rove

Sun Mar 18, 3:52 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House political strategist Karl Rove will face a Senate subpoena this week if he does not agree to testify in a dispute over fired prosecutors that has put pressure on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to quit, a Senate committee head said on Sunday.

But minority Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee stopped short of seeking to compel members of the White House staff to testify under oath. They have called for Gonzales to come to Congress to explain the firing of eight U.S. attorneys and clear up the varying reasons given for their ouster.

The White House is in talks with Congress over whether to allow testimony by officials including Rove -- whose former aide had been selected to replace one of the fired prosecutors. The replacement helped fuel charges the dismissals were politically motivated.

But one way or another, Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the Judiciary Committee chairman, made it clear he wanted the officials to testify at the Senate under oath.

"The final decision on putting on the agenda subpoenas is mine," Leahy said on ABC's "This Week." "And it will be on Thursday this week, among the subpoenas that will be voted on, will be one for Karl Rove and one for (former White House counsel) Harriet Miers, another one for her deputy."