In what would be a major escalation in the ongoing Solyndra battle between Capitol Hill Republicans and the Obama administration, Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) is considering bringing contempt of Congress charges against the White House for failing to provide subpoenaed documents.

"We are meeting this week to look at a very serious charge, which would be contempt of Congress, because they are not providing us [documents] they are slow walking," Stearns said in an interview last night on Fox Business.

SPECIAL REPORT

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.

Such a move by Stearns, who heads the Energy and Commerce subcommittee that has been leading Congress' probe of the more than half-a-billion-dollar loan guarantee that went to the now-bankrupt solar energy company, would be the first step in starting formal legal proceedings that could send the Solyndra controversy to the courts.

In recent months, some Republicans leaders have expressed hesitation over beginning contempt of Congress proceedings. Before the Justice Department gets involved in the matter, it would require a vote by the full House.

Stearns has often complained about what he believes is a concerted effort by the Obama administration to stonewall his investigation into whether political influence played a part in the decision to grant Solyndra a loan guarantee.

Last February, committee investigators sent the Office and Management and Budget a letter requesting documents relating to the office's efforts regarding Solyndra. That request turned into a four-month dispute over what OMB could and could not release. In mid-July, the committee finally voted to issue a subpoena to OMB to obtain the documents.

But after reviewing the information from OMB and the Energy Department, Stearns wanted to see additional documents from the White House. That dispute led to another subpoena being issued to then-White House chief of staff Bill Daley in November.

"We are now approaching the one-year mark of this congressional investigation and everything disclosed in the 185,000 pages of documents, nine committee staff briefings, five congressional hearings, 72,000 pages from Solyndra investors, and committee interview with George Kaiser affirms what we said since day one: This was a merit-based decision made by the Department of Energy," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said today.

Schultz said he believes the move to escalate the Solyndra investigation stems from pressure by House Republican leaders to ratchet up oversight on the Obama administration for political reasons.

"It is troubling that House members would use their investigative authority and taxpayer resources to seek a political advantage," Schultz said. "We believe political motivations shouldn't drive this investigation and that is why to date we have we have produced all documents relevant to the committee's legitimate oversight interests."