Washington, D.C. ? The White House scrambled Sunday to move up Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ planned testimony to Congress about his involvement in firing eight federal prosecutors, only to get a cold shoulder from majority Democrats.

The effort reflected the frustration by Republican senators and the White House over how long it is taking the embattled attorney general to explain himself under oath. Congress has just begun a vacation – one week for the Senate, two for the House.

Gonzales is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 17. White House counselor Dan Bartlett said the committee ought to reschedule the hearing for next week.

“Let’s move it up and let’s get the facts,” Bartlett said. “Let’s have the attorney general there sooner rather than later.”

The committee chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy, said Gonzales had been offered earlier dates but turned them down. It was Gonzales who chose April 17, said Leahy, D-Vt., and that date will not change now because “everybody has set their schedule according to that.”