A government official said the White House wanted a narrower request. A letter from a group of House Democrats, sent to the committee before it issued the subpoena, said the White House would be willing to share documents related to campaign contributors’ influence on the decision to grant or restructure the Solyndra loan guarantee, plus the White House’s involvement in deciding whether to make such a conditional commitment or close the loan guarantee.

Reps. Henry Waxman of California and Diana DeGette of Colorado wrote then that issuing the subpoena — as it was written — was unnecessary, given what they called “substantial progress” in recent talks between committee members and the White House about disclosing more information on Solyndra.