WASHINGTON At first, it seemed like a joke. Now, Democrats are starting to sound serious about using an obscure, long-dormant congressional power to fine or jail members of the Trump administration.

In their bid to make administration officials comply with their subpoenas for documents and requests to testify, House Democrats are weighing an approach that falls short of impeachment but is more than nothing: contempt.

There are three types of contempt Congress can issue: criminal, which would rely on the Justice Department to prosecute; civil, which would allow Congress to sue an individual and have a court make them comply with a subpoena; and inherent, which wouldnt rely on another branch of government to fine or even jail someone.

Congress hasnt used its inherent contempt power to detain someone since the 1930s, and in more recent decades, courts have said the prospect of a physical standoff between two branches of government is unseemly. Experts have said it might make more sense to try imposing fines.

The House Judiciary Committee has already voted to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt over his refusal to testify or produce an unredacted version of special counsel Robert Muellers report on election interference and Democratic leaders have suggested more officials could follow Barr.

But leaders also say theyll delay a floor vote on Barr until there are more officials queued up who can be added to a contempt resolution. That could be for efficiency, but it could also be more slow-walking from Democratic leadership.

For now, rank-and-file Democrats are going along with that plan.

Judiciary Committee member Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) said she was as impatient as anybody to hold Barr in contempt, but also saw some potential benefits to a short delay.

To me, waiting a week or two doesnt make a big difference in the process, Escobar told HuffPost Tuesday night. But it does demonstrate to the American public that were not running toward a certain outcome.

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), whos pushed for impeachment since early in Trumps term, also sounded comfortable with the strategy but added that he thought all roads would eventually lead toward impeachment.

Im skeptical that fighting it out in court over these contempt issues and individual subpoena after individual subpoena is going to move us quickly toward a resolution, Huffman said.

He added that he believed Democrats would improve their case for documents like Trumps tax returns by moving forward with impeachment. Because if youre in an impeachment posture, its pretty hard for them to argue that you dont have a legitimate legislative purpose, he said.