Democrats force Senate to delay vote on Bolton

WASHINGTON -- Democrats forced a postponement Thursday in a confirmation vote for John R. Bolton, yet another setback for President Bush's tough-talking choice as U.N. ambassador and a renewal of intense partisanship in the Senate after a brief respite.

The vote to advance Bolton's nomination to an immediate confirmation vote was 56-42 -- four short of the 60 votes needed.

Within minutes, aides to Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist said Democratic leader Harry Reid had offered assurances earlier in the day that obtaining the 60 votes would be a mere formality.

"I never said that," Reid told reporters as he ducked into a post-vote meeting in Frist's office.

Democratic aides said that despite the vote, Bolton's nomination did not appear to be in jeopardy.

A final vote on Bolton, whom Bush has called strong medicine for corruption and inefficiency at the United Nations, will not take place until at least June, after the Senate returns from a Memorial Day recess.

The dramatic roll call raised questions about Bush's ability to win confirmation of some of his more ideological appointees as he begins his second term in the White House. And it was a setback for Frist, R-Tenn., who was hoping to end nearly three months of delays and investigation and finally deliver Bolton's nomination for the president.

Frist said the Bolton matter soured the air of cooperation the two parties' centrists forged just days ago after months of wrangling over judges.

"John Bolton, the very first issue we turned to, we got what looks to me like a filibuster," Frist said. "It certainly sounds like a filibuster ... it quacks like a filibuster."

Democrats contended the White House had stiff-armed the Senate over classified information on Bolton's tenure in his current job as the State Department's arms control chief, and demanded more information before the Senate can give Bolton an up-or-down vote.

Bush has called Bolton strong medicine for corruption and inefficiency at the United Nations, but Democrats said he is an ideologue who lacks the diplomatic touch to advance U.S. interests at the world body and repair the American image abroad.

Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., said Democrats do not want to postpone an up-or-down vote indefinitely.

"We are willing to vote 10 minutes after we get back in session, if in fact they provide the information," Biden said.

Thursday's vote lasted about 50 minutes -- far longer than the 15 minutes generally allowed for roll calls -- as GOP leaders futilely hunted for enough support to prevail.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the administration was pleased that Republicans would revisit the vote after the recess and criticized Democrats for the newest delay.

"Just 72 hours after all the goodwill and bipartisanship, it is a shame to see the Democratic Senate leadership resort back to such a partisan approach," McClellan said. "This is a nominee that enjoys majority support."

Sens. Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana were the only Democrats to vote for going to a final vote on Bolton. Frist was the only Republican to vote against ending the delays, but he only did so because that gave him the procedural right to force the Senate to vote again on the issue.

Sens. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., did not vote.

"I think it was a very important day for the Senate because we need information on this nominee that we've been asking for for a very long time. We haven't gotten it yet," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.

Thursday's daylong debate touched on the issues that have made the Bolton nomination one of the Bush administration's toughest fights: Bolton's dismissive remarks about the United Nations, his reputation as an uncompromising and hotheaded conservative and allegations that he shut out or retaliated against any voices of caution or dissent.

"He will not be easily seduced by empty, meaningless, courteous pontifications of international bureaucrats," said Sen. George Allen. R-Va., on the second day of Senate debate on Bolton. "John Bolton will bring much needed reform and accountability to the United Nations."

The material Democrats have sought for weeks involves Bolton's use of government intelligence on Syria, and instances in which he asked for names of fellow U.S. officials whose communications were secretly picked up by a spy agency.

The White House has lobbied hard for Bolton, especially among a handful of moderate Republicans with public misgivings about his temperament. Only one Republican, George Voinovich of Ohio, spoke against Bolton on the Senate floor.

Democrats who spoke Wednesday and Thursday were unified in opposition.

"I do not understand why the administration is insisting upon thrusting such a troubled nominee into such a sensitive and important post," said Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis. "The stakes at the U.N. are as high as they've ever been."

Bolton is among Bush's most hawkish foreign policy advisers, with hard-line views on Cuba, North Korea, Syria and other world hot spots. Democrats and some Republicans have said Bolton's nomination seems out of step with Bush's second-term emphasis on repairing frayed alliances and improving the U.S. image in the Middle East.

The administration and many in Congress have expressed outrage at corruption recently revealed in the U.N.'s oil-for-food program and at what even current U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called an unwieldy U.N. bureaucracy.

Democrats cried foul as soon as Bush nominated Bolton in March, and pointed to his remark that it would not matter if 10 stories of the United Nations' New York headquarters were to vanish.