Washington ? A Senate panel voted on party lines Wednesday to issue Congress’ first subpoenas to the Bush White House, seeking information on staff contacts with Enron Corp. officials.

The vote was 9-8 to subpoena President Bush’s executive office and the office of Vice President Dick Cheney to compel them to produce relevant documents by noon on June 3. The vote followed a two-hour debate that at times turned bitterly partisan. The material being sought also covers the Clinton administration, going back to January 1992.

The vote grew out of the Governmental Affairs Committee’s investigation of Enron, which filed the biggest corporate bankruptcy in U.S. history last year.

The Houston-based company has been among Bush’s biggest campaign contributors.

Some Republican senators accused Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., chairman of the committee, of being politically motivated in requesting the subpoenas and unfairly giving the impression that wrongdoing in the Enron affair had occurred in the White House.

Presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer said the subpoenas were “unnecessary” because the White House was preparing to send over documents Wednesday. He said the White House’s own review showed “no instance in which Enron approached anyone in the executive office of the president for financial help before they filed for bankruptcy.”

“The White House has cooperated with Senator Lieberman,” he said.