(CNN) The House Judiciary Committee is setting a deadline of December 6 for President Donald Trump to decide whether his attorneys will participate in the committee's impeachment proceedings against him.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, a New York Democrat, sent Trump a letter Friday with the new date asking if the President's counsel plans to request witnesses or make a presentation as part of the proceedings.

That deadline is later than the Sunday one the White House was previously given to say whether it will participate in the committee's first impeachment hearing on Wednesday.

The letter to the President and a separate letter sent to Judiciary Committee ranking Republican Doug Collins of Georgia were largely technical, referring to the rules established by the House's impeachment resolution last month. But the letter starts the clock for the White House to decide if it will take part in the House's impeachment proceedings -- which Trump and congressional Republicans have claimed are unfair -- or wait until a potential Senate trial to make its case directly to Congress.

While a final decision hasn't been made, the latest thinking inside the White House is that it likely won't send an attorney to the first judiciary hearing next week, according to two officials. The White House is also still considering suggesting witnesses who should be called for the hearing.

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