Energy Secretary Steven Chu may be Rep. Cliff Stearns' (R-Fla.) "prime, top-rated witness" in his investigation into Solyndra, but the congressman will wait until closer to Thanksgiving to have Chu testify before his committee about the failed energy company that received $535 million in government loans.

The Department of Energy had offered to make Chu available as early as next week for what would be the sixth hearing in as many months by the Energy and Commerce investigations subpanel that Stearns chairs. But Stearns said in an interview this morning on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" that he plans to have Energy Department Loan Programs Office chief counsel Susan Richardson testify before his committee next week and that he wants to hear from Chu sometime before Thanksgiving.

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.

"When you're doing an investigation and you have this amount of detail, I think you should move systematically and carefully on this and progress in a way that you understand all the people, how they made their decisions, and bring the top guy in last," Stearns said.

The new insight into the committee's scheduling plans comes even as Stearns' fellow Republicans on the committee have been clamoring to hear from Chu about the DOE loan guarantee that went to the now-bankrupt Solyndra.

Earlier this month, Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) took the House floor to say that "it's time for the secretary of Energy to come before our committee, explain what he knew about this process, and clear the air once and for all for the American people."

Last week, Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) said testimony by Chu could come as early as this week.

But Stearns said that as the committee continues to build its case on Solyndra, it would be more appropriate to first hear from Richardson about the loan subordination issue that has come to be the crux of the GOP case against the solar manufacturer.

Earlier this year, in an effort to bail out Solyndra and provide it with enough additional cash to keep the company afloat, DOE agreed to subordinate the government's loan funding behind new money invested by private venture capital firms. Now that the company has gone bankrupt, the subordination means the government is at the end of the line in trying to recover money from the company. Republicans believe the subordination was not just unwise from an investment standpoint, but also illegal.

"We want to demonstrate, which is our opinion ... that this was against the law," Stearns said.

Stearns pointed to a provision of the 2005 Energy Policy Act -- under which the DOE loan guarantee program was created -- that expressly prohibits subordination to other financing.

Richardson was the author of a DOE legal memo that argues that the subordination was legal because of another provision of the 2005 act that gives the secretary "broad authority" to take action to "protect and maximize the interests of the United States."

But Stearns rejected that argument.

"Counsel cannot decide on her own ... what is in the best interest of the United States," he said. "You have to follow the law, and in this case she did not."

As Solyndra's spectacular failure has ballooned into a full-blown scandal for the Obama administration, some high-profile Republicans have called for Chu to be dismissed.

Earlier this month, presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) wrote on his blog that if he were president, he would fire Chu "for so grossly mismanaging taxpayer dollars."

But Stearns, who quickly called for the dismissal of DOE's former loan chief after Solyndra went bust, said today that he was not yet prepared to call for Chu's job.

"Let's hear their side before we make a judgment on Secretary Chu, and let him defend himself," Stearns said. "I think he should be given every opportunity to present his case. Of course, it would be under oath."

Meanwhile, Stearns said, the committee continues to push the White House to release all documents and emails relating to Solyndra dating back to Obama's first day in office. That includes anything related to Solyndra that may have been on Obama's BlackBerry.

The White House, which has already provided nearly 1,000 pages of documents to the committee, has said that the panel is starting to drift into partisan territory with its request. Democratic operatives have also questioned whether the request for additional White House documents is motivated more by politics than rigorous oversight, since the committee has yet to fully examine the nearly 70,000 pages of documents that have already been submitted to the committee by DOE, the Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Treasury.

Stearns said today that the committee may be forced to subpoena the documents if the White House continues to hold back (E&E Daily, Oct. 21).

"The president indicated he's going to be transparent when he came in [to office]. And so, at this point, we're a little puzzled why he's not providing these documents," Stearns said. "I'm not sure he's going to claim executive privilege or we're going have to subpoena these documents."

DOE spokesman Damien LaVera said in response to Stearns' comments that agency officials are cooperating with the panel's probe.

"We are committed to cooperating with the committee's investigation, which is why we have offered the make the secretary available for a hearing on November 1 or 2, voluntarily provided more than 65,000 pages of information, briefed committee staffers on several occasions and made the head of our loan program available for a hearing," LaVera said. "At this point, we have received no invitations for any hearings."