Democrats force delay on Bolton vote
GOP fails to end debate on controversial U.N. nominee
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| JOHN R. BOLTON | AGE: 56; born November 20, 1948, in Baltimore, Maryland
EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree from Yale University, summa cum laude, 1970; law degree from Yale Law School, 1974
EXPERIENCE: Undersecretary of state for arms control and international security since May 11, 2001; assistant U.S. attorney general, 1985-1989; assistant administrator for program and policy coordination, U.S. Agency for International Development, 1982-1983; general counsel, U.S. Agency for International Development, 1981-1982; associate at the Washington office of Covington & Burlington, 1974-81; partner in the law firm of Lerner, Reed, Bolton & McManus, 1993-99
FAMILY: Married to the former Gretchen Brainerd; one daughter.
Source: AP
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Senate vote on John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations won't come until at least next month after Democrats forced a delay Thursday, demanding the Bush administration turn over documents.
The move came three days after a bipartisan deal on judicial filibusters.
Following hours of heated exchanges, the Senate failed Thursday evening to close off debate on President Bush's controversial pick.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, entered a motion to reconsider the vote when lawmakers return after a weeklong holiday break.
The Senate voted 56-42 for cloture, four votes shy of the necessary 60 votes to cut off debate. The split was mostly along party lines.
Two Democrats -- Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Joseph Biden of Delaware -- urged their colleagues to vote against closing the debate, saying the administration should turn over documents on Syria and 10 instances of communications intercepted by the National Security Agency.
Republicans said the Democrats' action spoiled the spirit of cooperation from this week's deal struck by a bipartisan group of 14 senators.
The agreement precluded filibusters on three of Bush's judicial nominees who had been held up during his first term. (Full story)
"It does disappoint me," Frist told the Senate after the cloture vote. "It looks like we have once again another filibuster."
Frist had said he wanted a vote on the nomination before the Memorial Day break.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, took issue with the GOP leader's comments.
"This is the first filibuster of the year, and maybe the last. [I] hope so," Reid said.
Three of the seven Democrats involved in the compromise on judicial nominees voted with the GOP on Thursday -- Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.
Another Democratic participant in the negotiations, Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, did not vote. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania, also didn't vote.
Frist voted with Democrats against cutting off debate in a parliamentary move that allows him to call for the vote to be reconsidered.
Once debate ends, Bolton would need a simple majority to be confirmed by the Senate, which has 55 Republicans, 44 Democrats and one independent.
Democrats seek information
Biden -- the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee --and Dodd said Bolton had sought the 10 National Security Agency intercepts as the undersecretary of state for arms control.
In a letter to peers, the two said the administration's refusal to provide the documents "is a threat to the Senate's constitutional power to advise and consent."
"The only way to protect that power is to continue to demand that the information be provided to the Senate," the senators said.
After the cloture vote fail, Biden said, "We are willing to vote 10 minutes after we get back in session, if in fact they provide the information."
White House officials reacted with surprise and anger. Press secretary Scott McClellan said the administration had no plans to hand over the documents requested.
"They have the information they need," McClellan said. "Just 72 hours after all the good will and bipartisanship, it's a shame to see the Democratic leadership resort back to a partisan approach."
Reid told the Senate he hoped "we'll all slow down the rhetoric during the break."
"We need to work together, and I think this week has established that," Reid said. "But how can we work together when information is not supplied?"
Passionate debate
On the Senate floor, the debate was passionate on both sides of the aisle.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, pointed to negative comments Bolton has made about the United Nations.
During a Federalist Society forum in 1994, Bolton said: "If the U.N. secretary building in New York lost 10 stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference."
Boxer asked, "What kind of credibility does he have walking onto the floor of the United Nations?"
Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, said Bolton would represent the nation well.
"The United Nations needs the presence of a tough, hard, dedicated individual that has been already, already confirmed in various posts four times by this body," McCain said.
At least one Republican, Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, has said he would not vote for Bolton because he believes he could undermine Bush's foreign policy. But Voinovich did vote for cloture.
The offices of other Republican moderates who had expressed doubts about Bolton -- Sens. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska -- indicated they would support Bush's pick.
Deception alleged
Democrats have said Bolton lacks the diplomatic skills for the job.
At his confirmation hearings last month, senators heard testimony that Bolton bullied subordinates and manipulated intelligence.
Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee issued a 63-page report last week saying Bolton tried repeatedly to discipline an analyst who disagreed with him -- and then misled the committee about the matter. (Full story)
One of Bolton's former State Department colleagues testified last month that he was "a quintessential kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy."
Republicans on the panel released an eight-page brief backing Bolton, whose supporters argue he is a seasoned government official who can spearhead reform at the United Nations.
"A vote for John Bolton is a vote for U.N. reform," Frist said shortly before Thursday's roll call.
The Republican-dominated Foreign Relations Committee voted 10-8 along party lines two weeks ago to send the Bolton nomination to the full Senate. But the committee withheld its endorsement, something rarely done. (Full story)
CNN's Andrea Koppel contributed to this report.
