House Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) has proposed issuing new subpoenas to a handful of Interior Department officials he believes could shed light on an agency report that recommended a moratorium on Gulf of Mexico drilling following the Deepwater Horizon incident.

The committee's Wednesday vote on the subpoenas marks the latest twist in a year-and-a-half-long Republican campaign to determine who within the Obama administration may be responsible for edits to the report that suggested the moratorium was endorsed by a panel of independent scientists, when in fact it was not.

The meeting, which will also include a markup of yet-to-be-announced bills, follows the issuance of two subpoenas and months of unsuccessful attempts by committee Republicans to arrange on-the-record interviews with Interior officials involved with the report.

The committee last week invited Steve Black, counselor to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar; Neal Kemkar, special assistant to Black; Mary Katherine Ishee, senior adviser at the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement; 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, to testify on the report. But the hearing was canceled after Republicans said Interior refused to confirm their attendance. Salazar had offered to testify, according to a Democratic Hill aide.

The subpoena asks five Interior officials "and others as may be necessary" to appear before the committee, but the committee did not provide a specific list of individuals.

"While the actions of the Interior Department demonstrate it has chosen to ignore the legitimate oversight responsibilities of the committee, we are dedicated to acquiring information and straight answers about the decisions and actions of the administration that caused lost jobs and economic harm in the Gulf," Hastings said. "Taking the step to issue subpoenas for witnesses to appear before the committee is not the preferred option, but if that is the only way to acquire answers and accountability of the administration, we're left with no other choice."

Hastings has said he wants to better understand the reasoning behind the moratorium as well as determine whether the Obama administration purposely used the scientists' endorsement as political cover.

In a separate hearing Thursday, the committee will explore whether Interior acting Inspector General Mary Kendall's probe into the report's editing was independent and impartial (see related story).

Kendall in late 2010 determined that late-night White House edits had caused the errors in the Interior report but that there was no clear evidence of an intent to mislead the public. Interior immediately corrected the error and issued a quick apology to the engineers.

Interior for months has argued that it has provided nearly 2,000 pages of documents and remains willing to cooperate with the committee's "legitimate oversight interests."

The department in the past has withheld documents it said constitute "predecisional and deliberative interagency communications," arguing that their release would threaten the confidentiality interests of the executive branch.

Schedule: The meeting is Wednesday, Aug. 1, at 10 a.m. in 1324 Longworth.