WASHINGTON — Nearly two years after Steve Bannon's conviction on two counts of contempt of Congress for defying subpoenas from the House Jan. 6 committee, federal prosecutors are pressing the Supreme Court to enforce his four-month prison sentence.

In a filing on Wednesday, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar stressed the urgency for Bannon to begin serving his sentence, citing the recent case of another former Trump adviser, Peter Navarro, who completed his four-month sentence after reporting to prison in March.

Prelogar referred to the Supreme Court's prior denial of Navarro's bid for release pending appeal, arguing that Bannon's situation warrants a similar outcome. The filing responds to Bannon's last-minute plea to the Supreme Court to delay his prison term and permit further appeals. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols had previously ordered Bannon to surrender by the upcoming Monday following a contentious hearing earlier this month.

After Nichols' ruling, a federal appeals court turned down Bannon's request to stay his prison sentence during his ongoing appeal, leaving the Supreme Court as his final recourse to halt the sentence. The high court had requested the Justice Department to submit a brief outlining its stance by Wednesday afternoon.

Bannon was convicted of contempt of Congress in July 2022 and sentenced to four months in prison in October of the same year. His sentence had been temporarily postponed pending the appeal's outcome. Nichols subsequently moved to enforce the sentence after a panel of federal appellate judges upheld Bannon’s conviction in May, prompting federal prosecutors to advocate for his immediate incarceration, arguing against further delay.

In his defense before the Supreme Court, Bannon asserted he acted in good faith on advice from his attorneys when defying the House Jan. 6 committee's subpoena, citing potential executive privilege. However, prosecutors countered in a previous sentencing memo that Bannon had left the White House well before the committee's focus period, centered on Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and events leading to the January 6th Capitol attack.

The ongoing legal struggle underscores the seriousness of Bannon's defiance and broader implications for congressional oversight, particularly in investigations involving former White House officials. As the Supreme Court weighs the case, its decision is poised to influence future interactions between Congress and executive branch officials summoned to testify before investigative committees.