GOP lawmaker: Chu might testify on Solyndra next week

A showdown between House Republicans probing the Solyndra loan guarantee and Energy Secretary Steven Chu could occur as soon as next week, according to House Energy and Commerce Committee member Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.).

“We're going to get to the bottom of it and ... if we have to bring Secretary Chu before the Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations subcommittee, indeed, we'll do that, and we may do it as early as next week,” Gingrey said Wednesday night on the Fox Business network, according to a transcript.

Gingrey sits on the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee, which is probing the $535 million Energy Department loan guarantee for Solyndra, the California solar panel company that went bankrupt in early September.

Spokesmen for Chu and the committee’s GOP leadership could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday morning. Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), the Oversight subcommittee's chairman, said recently that he planned to bring Chu before the panel at some point before the Christmas holiday.