The panel can now subpoena Sara Taylor, the former head of the White House office of political affairs, as it continues its probe.

The vote to authorize the subpoena came not long after the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee issued a subpoena to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, seeking to examine further the Bush administration’s 2002 claims that Iraq sought to purchase enriched uranium in Africa.

In addition, the House Judiciary Committee voted to grant immunity to former Department of Justice aide Monica Goodling in exchange for testimony on the firings. Goodling had previously indicated she would invoke her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.

In addition, Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), the committee’s ranking Republican, asked Gonzales to clarify his testimony Wednesday and accused the attorney general of hampering the committee’s investigation by failing to answer at least 60 questions of Democratic and Republican senators.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has assumed a leading role in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation, said regarding the Taylor subpoena that “after last Thursday [when Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified on the investigation], the arrow points more and more toward the White House.”

Schumer added that Taylor “was in the thick of the White House’s political operations and may have critical information about whether U.S. attorneys were fired for improper political reasons and what role the White House played in the decisions.”

The committee has already authorized a subpoena for top presidential aide Karl Rove but has not issued it.

The committee contacted Taylor two weeks ago but she has not responded, according to Specter.

“I just don’t like to go down that road if it can be avoided,” Specter said of authorizing the subpoena. But, he added, “I think that without a response in two weeks it is reasonable to have the authorization for a subpoena on the condition that it not be issued unless there is consultation with the ranking member, me.

“And I will see to it that we make a telephone call or two, beyond the letter,” added Specter, who has previously expressed concern about the administration’s handling of the investigation.

The Judiciary Committee is also seeking the testimony of William Moschella, a Department of Justice official, and Scott Jennings, a deputy of Rove. A joint panel, composed of House and Senate judiciary committees, will interview Deputy U.S. Attorney General Paul McNulty Friday.