As Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee make a second attempt to obtain a deposition from a key staffer in the Department of Energy's controversial loan program office, it appears increasingly unlikely that Energy Secretary Steven Chu will appear before the panel next Thursday as Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) originally hoped.

Issa said earlier this week that he had informed DOE he wanted Chu to testify next Thursday to clear up "previous inaccurate statements" that the secretary made when he appeared before the panel in March to discuss the loan program that funded the now-bankrupt Solyndra solar energy company. Issa said he expected to hear from the agency by yesterday in order to provide enough time to provide official notice of the hearing (Greenwire, Sept. 11).

Both DOE and committee staff declined to comment on the status of the Chu hearing this morning, but committee Republicans may have given some indication that the hearing won't be happening when they decided to move another high-profile hearing from next Wednesday to next Thursday.

The panel's probe into the "Fast and Furious" gun walking case has been one of Issa's signature investigations this Congress, and it seems unlikely he'd schedule what would surely be a high-profile appearance by Chu on the same day as a hearing to discuss a much-anticipated Justice Department report on the case.

Meanwhile, according to an official familiar with the investigation, Morgan Wright, the director of strategic initiatives in the Loan Programs Office, has received a second subpoena from the committee in a week. The official said committee investigators are looking to bring in Wright for a deposition Tuesday.

Issa, who has been investigating the loan program for the past year, has called Wright a "key figure in the Solyndra scandal" and originally tried to bring him in for a deposition yesterday.

Panel Democrats this week accused Issa of trying to intimidate Wright and other DOE employees by sending U.S. marshals to agency headquarters last week to deliver subpoenas.

Wright skipped yesterday's scheduled appearance before committee investigators because, he said, he was unable to obtain counsel in time for the meeting. Committee ranking member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) had criticized Issa for trying to force Wright to testify before he had retained a lawyer.

Issa said yesterday that a second subpoena would be coming for Wright.

"I am reissuing a subpoena for Wright's deposition," Issa said. "This does not, however, absolve Mr. Wright from the consequences he, his current or future employers, or his associates at the Department of Energy may face as a result of his failure to meet his obligations today."