Republicans escalated a high-profile clash with US President Barack Obama in the case of a failed gunrunning investigation by voting on Wednesday to hold his attorney general in contempt of Congress.

A majority Republican committee in the House of Representatives voted 23-17 along party lines to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt for failing to turn over Justice Department documents.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives' Oversight and Government Reform Committee decided to cite the nation's top law enforcement officer in connection with an operation code-named "Fast and Furious".

Republican House leaders said they would schedule a vote in the full House next week on the contempt charge. House Speaker John Boehner said if the requested documents were submitted before that vote, it would provide an opportunity to resolve the issue.

In Copenhagen on Thursday, Holder said: "The action that the committee took yesterday was unwarranted, unnecessary and unprecedented."

In theory, an official charged with contempt could be punished with a fine or jail, but no one expects it to come to that. Weeks of controversy feeding into the presidential election campaign is more likely.

The Fast and Furious operation - similar to one conducted during George W. Bush's administration - was meant to help federal law enforcement agents follow the flow of guns from Arizona into Mexico, where they were thought to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

US agents lost track of many of the weapons, which later were involved in crimes, including the killing of US Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.