Interior Secretary Ken Salazar offered to testify at a House hearing this week to discuss the department's decision to halt deepwater drilling in the wake of the BP PLC oil spill, according to a Democratic Hill aide.

The offer apparently did not appease committee Republicans, who postponed the hearing, claiming Interior had failed to confirm the attendance of five other agency officials who were invited to testify.

Those invited included Steve Black, Salazar's counselor; Neal Kemkar, special assistant to Black; and Mary Katherine Ishee, senior adviser at the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement.

Also invited were Walter Cruickshank, deputy director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and Kallie Hanley, senior adviser at the Office of the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs.

Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) said the agency has refused to make the five officials available for on-the-record questioning.

Committee Republicans yesterday said multiple contacts and inquiries to Interior and the five invited witnesses over the past week did not produce "a direct response confirming their attendance."

But a Hastings spokesman yesterday did not comment on Salazar's offer to testify, which was made by phone, according to a Democratic aide.

"There is a clear pattern of actions by the Interior Department to withhold information and answers on the administration's falsely edited report and decision to impose a Gulf drilling moratorium that cost thousands of jobs, inflicted widespread economic harm and restricted American energy production," Hastings said.

The committee for nearly a year and a half has investigated whether the Obama administration knowingly edited a drilling safety report to suggest a panel of independent scientists had supported the moratorium, when in fact they did not. Interior quickly corrected the error and sent apologies to the scientists.

The committee in April issued a subpoena seeking all documents created, sent or received by Black, Kemkar, Ishee and two other officials in the months following the BP spill involving the "development, editing, review, issuance, response, or reaction to" Interior's 30-day safety report on the Deepwater Horizon spill, which recommended the six-month halt in offshore drilling.

It also sought more than a dozen documents Interior provided to acting Inspector General Mary Kendall but asked to be kept from the public on concerns that the predecisional documents could raise confidentiality issues with the executive branch.

Hastings said Republicans are keeping "all options on the table" to compel a response, including a contempt of Congress charge.