WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court sought compromise yesterday between a liberal group demanding the names of White House visitors and the Bush administration, which says releasing the names would erode the president’s power.

If released, the documents would show how often prominent religious conservatives visited the White House and Vice President Cheney’s residence, allowing a glimpse into how much influence they exerted on government policy.

White House calendars are not generally considered public records, but reporters and watchdog groups have used Secret Service documents, which normally are public, to report on White House visitors.

Rather than having those documents released on a case-by-casis basis, the Bush administration wants them considered White House documents, which would keep them from public view for more than a decade.

A federal judge rejected White House arguments in December and ordered the documents released. On appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, government attorneys said the president has a well-established right to seek advice privately.

Releasing lists of visitors would trample on that right, a Justice Department lawyer Jonathan F. Cohn, said, and the logs should be treated like other White House documents.

The judges were skeptical. They said they wanted to find a way to protect the president’s rights without broadly prohibiting access to information that should be public. “What in the documents are so quintessentially presidential?” Judge David S. Tatel asked.

“The name of the person going in to visit,” Mr. Cohn replied.

“That’s a public building,” Judge Tatel said. “You can stand out on 17th Street and watch who goes in and out.”

“The Secret Service might have some qualms with that,” Mr. Cohn responded.

“They might have some qualms but they couldn’t stop you from doing it,” Chief Judge David B. Sentelle said.

Rather than balancing the president’s interest with the public’s, Judge Tatel said, the government was simply disregarding the Freedom of Information Act. He said the policy would allow the president to “draw a curtain around the White House.”

Judge Merrick B. Garland said he was concerned the Bush administration’s policy could extend to other White House agencies such as the budget office, which normally releases public records. Under the government’s theory, Judge Garland said, visits to the White House social planner, caterer, and gardener would all be secret because the president needs to receive advice privately.