BOSTON — The three-day countdown for Beacon Hill lawmakers to comply with Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s probe of the Legislature started Monday afternoon, DiZoglio said, with her office now requesting specific records from the House and Senate.

Meantime, the Senate on Monday shuttled a letter from DiZoglio into a new subcommittee, a move that could inch the auditor and legislative leaders closer to the legal fight that DiZoglio and her allies have threatened.

DiZoglio on Friday sent her third missive to House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka, looking to schedule an “entrance conference” before the auditor launches her probe into the Legislature’s finances, taxpayer-funded non-disclosure agreements, and state contracting and procurement documents.

The letter itself did not initiate the long-sought audit, though DiZoglio broadly asked “that all requested records and information be made available to us within 72 hours of the date of request.”

Lawmakers have yet to respond directly to that letter, DiZoglio’s office told State House News Service on Monday afternoon. But the auditor’s office is moving forward and trying to exercise its new authority from Question 1, which voters overwhelmingly supported in November and which took effect last Friday.

“Today, we are sending requests for records related to our audit, which, should the House and Senate fail to comply and comply within our requested 72 hours (from today), could potentially trigger the basis for legal action that the AGO is requiring,” DiZoglio told State House News Service on Monday. “Hopefully, House and Senate leadership will choose to respond (to) our office in a timely manner with responsive records.”

The records requests were sent to Mariano and Spilka at 3:18 p.m. Monday, DiZoglio said.

She told reporters last month that the 72-hour timeframe is the “same that everybody else gets” to respond and submit documents. Still, she said her office can be flexible and give a grace period of up to 15 days.

The auditor contends her initial inquiries to the Legislature do not conflict with top Democrats’ concerns about constitutional separation of power, though Spilka cited that worry in a television interview over the weekend.

Attorney General Andrea Campbell has said her office won’t get involved in DiZoglio’s auditing attempts until a legal dispute arises. DiZoglio said she’s been in touch with Campbell’s office after sending the Jan. 3 letter.

“The AGO has communicated to us that they are currently unwilling to take a position on this issue,” DiZoglio said. “It has instead informed us that unless the Legislature outright refuses to cooperate with our audit, or to provide specific documents requested in connection with our audit, they are unwilling to get involved.”

The Senate adopted an order Monday morning to create a subcommittee to deal with the audit issue.

The panel, a subset of the Senate’s Temporary Rules Committee, is directed to “receive and respond as appropriate to any matters referred to it by the Senate” relating to the new voter-approved audit law. Known in campaign season as Question 1, the audit measure is now referred to as Chapter 250 of the Acts of 2024.

In a letter to the Senate clerk Monday, Spilka said it was her “expectation” that the subcommittee will “focus exclusively” on DiZoglio’s latest letter, Chapter 250, “and the serious constitutional questions raised thereby.”

DiZoglio, asked whether she views the subcommittee as complying with Question 1, replied, “No.”

“Senators are conspiring to violate the law that nearly 72% of the people voted for,” DiZoglio said, as she again called on Campbell and Healey to support her quest.

Spilka appointed Sen. Cindy Friedman to chair the Chapter 250 Subcommittee. Its remaining members are to be designated by Senate Rules Chair Joan Lovely.

Friedman co-chaired a special committee last year that looked into all the ballot questions heading before voters and issued a report knocking DiZoglio’s proposed expanded powers.

“Auditor DiZoglio lacks the objectivity required to audit the Legislature in accordance with the Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS), also known as the Yellow Book, due to the auditor’s recent service in the Legislature, as well as the clear prejudice that the auditor has publicly expressed against the Legislature,” the House-Senate panel, led by Friedman and Rep. Alice Peisch, wrote in April 2024.

Friedman, an Arlington Democrat, was not available for an interview on Monday.

Mariano’s office said it was still reviewing DiZoglio’s latest letter but insisted the House had no non-disclosure agreements, part of the auditor’s inquiry, to hand over.

“The House of Representatives has not executed an NDA with an employee or former employee, nor has it paid any money to settle any workplace complaints since Speaker Mariano became House speaker,” a Mariano spokesperson told the State House News Service.

The House in November adopted a rule change that gave DiZoglio’s office the authority to select an independent auditing firm to conduct a financial audit of the House.

The rule, which DiZoglio likened to “slapping voters in the face,” takes effect on July 1. Mariano, referencing Question 1, had called the policy “the first step in the House’s effort to respect the will of the voters without violating the separation of powers clause that is foundational to the Massachusetts Constitution.”

DiZoglio and the House business manager have yet to schedule an “engagement conference” for January, but the auditor has been sent a list of vendors, the Mariano spokesperson said.