Capitol Hill Blue: Next Controversy: The John Bolton Debacle\Next Controversy: The John Bolton Debacle
By LAWRENCE M. O'ROURKE
McClatchy Newspapers
May 26, 2005, 07:49
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With filibusters currently in disfavor, the Senate opened debate Wednesday on President Bush's nomination of John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations.
Bolton, defended by Republicans as a tough, blunt reformer and derided by Democrats as an intemperate abuser of government intelligence analysts, appeared headed to confirmation as one of the nation's top diplomats.
Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., described Bolton as "a man of strong conviction" who would be effective as Bush's agent at the United Nations for reforming the international organization. "He's not a soft guy, no question about that."
Bolton, according to Senate Democrats, has become a beneficiary of the last-minute decision Monday by a bipartisan group of senators to drop filibusters against three of Bush's judicial nominees. The decision included an agreement by the senators to filibuster less.
"People are going to be reluctant" to filibuster to block a vote on Bolton, said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., who has previously hinted at a filibuster and continued to insist Wednesday that he would try to block a vote on Bolton.
Shortly after the deal that opened the way to confirmation of three Bush judicial nominees and curtailed use of the filibuster, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., cleared the way for a Senate floor debate on Bolton when she withdrew a hold, a delaying device similar to the filibuster, on the nomination.
But Dodd and Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., said they would not seek to block Bolton's nomination through a filibuster.