WASHINGTON – A federal judge ordered the Bush administration on yesterday to release documents about its wiretapping program without warrants or spell out what it is withholding, a setback to efforts to keep the program under wraps.

At the same time, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said he had worked out an agreement with the White House to consider legislation and provide more information to Congress on the wiretapping program. The panel’s top Democrat, who has requested a full-scale investigation, immediately objected to what he called an abdication of the committee’s responsibilities.

U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy ruled that a private group, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, will suffer irreparable harm if the documents it has been seeking since December are not processed promptly under the Freedom of Information Act. He gave the Justice Department 20 days to respond to the group’s request.

“President Bush has invited meaningful debate about the wireless surveillance program,” Judge Kennedy said. “That can only occur if DOJ processes its FOIA requests in a timely fashion and releases the information sought.”

Justice Department spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos said the department has been “extremely forthcoming” with information and “will continue to meet its obligations under FOIA.”

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers also have been seeking more information about Mr. Bush’s program that allowed the National Security Agency to listen in – without court warrants – on Americans whose international calls and e-mails it believed might be linked to Al Qaeda.

After a two-hour closed-door session, Senate Intelligence Chairman Pat Roberts, a Republican of Kansas, said the committee adjourned without voting on whether to open an investigation. Instead, he and the White House confirmed that they had an agreement to give lawmakers more information on the nature of the program. The White House also has committed to make changes to the current law, according to Roberts and White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino.

“I believe that such an investigation at this point … would be detrimental to this highly classified program and efforts to reach some accommodation with the administration,” Mr. Roberts said.

Still, he promised to consider the Democratic request for a vote in a March 7 meeting.

Earlier, Bush spokesman Scott McClellan left the impression that any deal with Congress would not allow for significant changes. He said the White House continued to maintain that Bush does not need Congress’ approval to authorize the wiretapping and that the president would resist any legislation that might compromise the program. “There’s kind of a high bar to overcome,” Mr. McClellan said.

West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller, the Intelligence Committee’s top Democrat, said the White House had applied heavy pressure to Republicans to prevent them from conducting thorough oversight. He complained that Mr. Roberts didn’t even allow a vote on a proposal for a 13-point investigation that would include the program’s origin and operation, technical aspects and questions raised by federal judges.

Mr. Rockefeller said the Senate cannot consider legislation because lawmakers don’t have enough information.