House Republicans Thursday left the chamber ahead of a vote seeking to hold White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify before a panel investigating the firing of several United States attorneys.

The move was intended to show that Republicans want to work on a permanent update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act rather than be part of a “partisan fishing expedition,” as House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) put it.

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At a press conference following the walkout, Boehner said “Before Congress leaves town, we must give our intelligence officials the tools they need to keep America safe.

“The president will delay his trip to Africa to deal with this critical issue. And Republicans are prepared to stay here as long as it takes to complete our work,” Boehner added. “The terrorist threat to our country is not going away. We must do everything we can to protect the American people, and we should start by passing the bipartisan Senate bill.”