The administration has already said it would order the Justice Department not to pursue a contempt charge against either Mr. Bolten or Ms. Miers.

But Democratic officials have decided that they have no choice but to pursue the citation to protect Congressional oversight authority in view of the administration’s refusal to allow the administration aides to appear.

The White House has cited executive privilege in directing the two not to testify before Congress.

Democratic officials said that they believed that they had enough support to win approval of the contempt citation but that the schedule still needed to be presented to the rank and file. It was possible that the vote, which has been delayed for months, could be put off.

The case arose out of accusations that administration officials sought to remove some federal prosecutors so they could be replaced with ones more in line with administration ideology, an approach that Democrats said destroyed the independence of the Justice Department.

The vote would occur as the two parties in Congress and the Bush administration have made new efforts to cooperate legislatively, producing an economic measure that Mr. Bush is scheduled to sign on Wednesday.