House Republicans have yet to announce their official witness list for this week's much anticipated hearing on Solyndra, but all signs are pointing to at least one witness from the Treasury Department and a possible interagency showdown.

A key question Republicans have been hounding Obama administration officials on is whether the Department of Energy had the legal authority to restructure Solyndra's loan earlier this year under terms that subordinated the government's more than half-billion-dollar investment to new funding from private investors.

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Solyndra, a solar manufacturer that was given a $535 million loan guarantee and touted by the White House as a model for the clean energy economy, has filed for bankruptcy. E&E examines how it got there and what it means. Click here to read the report.

Now GOP investigators believe they have found others inside the Obama administration who shared that same concern.

This February, when the restructuring was being considered, Gary Burner, the Treasury Department's chief financial officer for the Federal Financing Bank, encouraged DOE staff to get Justice Department approval of the deal. DOE staffers in the loan program office said at the time that Treasury had a "gross misunderstanding" of the restructuring deal and said in internal email that there should not be any problem.

David Frantz, who served as a director in the loan guarantee office, said he thought the email from Burner "was just a heads up" and that DOE was working through the issues. But in August -- with Solyndra just days away from declaring bankruptcy despite the loan restructuring -- Assistant Treasury Secretary Mary Miller reminded DOE in an email that her agency had questioned whether the decision to subordinate the DOE loan was proper.

"Our legal counsel believes that the statute and the DOE regulations both require that the guaranteed loan should not be subordinate to any loan or other debt obligation," Miller wrote.

Miller also informed the Office of Management and Budget of her concern that DOE was making decisions on the subordination without proper approval from Treasury and the Justice Department. Miller said she "expects that DOE has a view about why loan subordination can occur without DOJ approval or Treasury consultation, I wanted to correct any impression that we have acquiesced in the steps to date."

That restructuring means that now any money salvaged from the bankruptcy proceedings of the solar energy company will be used to first pay off those private investors.

DOE has argued that the restructuring was the best possible choice at the time because the agency believed that Solyndra could still be saved and be profitable. DOE officials, including Deputy Secretary Daniel Poneman, have argued that Energy Secretary Steven Chu had the benefit of extensive legal review and was acting within the authority granted to him by the 2005 Energy Policy Act when he agreed to subordinate the DOE loan (E&ENews PM Sept. 22).

DOE spokesman Damien LaVera repeated that explanation yesterday.

"When the Treasury Department raised questions with the Energy Department in February, the career staff at the two departments discussed these issues. Ultimately, DOE's determination that the restructuring was legal was made by career lawyers in the loan program based on a careful analysis of the statute," LaVera said.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans last week requested a host of documents from Treasury that are due to the committee by tomorrow, two days ahead of the hearing.

It seems unlikely that Chu will testify this week. Energy and Commerce investigations subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) said last week that he expected Chu would come before the committee later this year.

Last week Chu informed DOE staff that Frantz and Poneman would be overseeing DOE's loan program after the program's former director, Jonathan Silver, stepped down just weeks after House Republicans began calling for his resignation. Chu said Silver's departure was voluntary.

"David Frantz has agreed to temporarily take on the day-to-day management responsibilities in the Loan Programs Office. In addition, I have asked the Deputy Secretary to play an active support and oversight role in the office during this transition," Chu wrote.

Poneman "has worked together with the leadership of the Loan Programs Office throughout his tenure as Deputy Secretary, and is enthusiastic about the opportunity to work even more closely with the talented and dedicated staff of the program during this period," he said.

In that announcement, Chu also recognized the intense political pressure that the loan program is currently under.

"We want to make very clear to everyone, in the building and across the country that we will not back down from our commitment to this program and the crucial work it does," he wrote. "Unfortunately, this program has been caught up in the most disappointing kind of politics, but please know that we are extraordinarily grateful for what you do on behalf of the country. "

Schedule: The hearing is Friday, Oct. 14, at 9:30 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.

Witnesses: TBA.