LoungeMachine
11-10-2006, 03:21 PM
Bolton's Chances of Confirmation Are 'Nil,' Official Says
By HELENE COOPER
Published: November 10, 2006
WASHINGTON, Nov. 10—President Bush has pledged to be a bipartisan, consensus builder now that Democrats are to control Congress, and since Wednesday he has made conciliatory gestures. The question now is whether Mr. Bush is ready to junk all of his make-nice pledges in order to keep John Bolton at the United Nations.
Officially, administration officials say they plan to make all the necessary calls to Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to try to talk them into confirming Mr. Bolton for a next term as ambassador. “He has been extraordinarily effective up there at the U.N., and now is not the time to have a gap,” said the State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, repeating the official line.
But with Senator Lincoln Chafee’s announcement Thursday that he would deny Republicans on the committee the last vote needed to send Mr. Bolton’s nomination to the full Senate, some administration officials privately acknowledge that Mr. Bolton’s chances of getting Senate confirmation are “nil,” one State Department official said. “We know it’s not going to happen.”
In this situation, the usual next step would be for Mr. Bolton to withdraw from consideration and for Mr. Bush to nominate a less polarizing candidate—perhaps bringing Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad back from Baghdad; or turning to the State Department counselor, Philip D. Zelikow; the under secretary of state for Democracy and Global Affairs, Paula Dobriansky, or even Mr. Chafee himself, following his own re-election defeat. All those names have been floated both inside and outside the administration.
But Mr. Bolton is keen to stay at the helm of the American team at the United Nations, administration officials say, and White House officials, including the legal adviser, Harriet Miers, have been looking into whether Mr. Bush can somehow bypass the Senate and save Mr. Bolton. Administration officials said that Vice President Dick Cheney is backing the exploration of such a move.
Mr. Bolton “could be named ‘acting permanent representative’ or ‘deputy U.N. ambassador’ or something else that doesn’t require confirmation,” one senior administration official said, acknowledging that it might not be worth angering Democrats with such a maneuver.
When senators blocked Mr. Bolton’s confirmation last year, Mr. Bush gave him a recess appointment, which expires when this Congress adjourns. Mr. Bush could give Mr. Bolton a second recess appointment as United Nations ambassador, but under the law he could not be paid for his work. White House officials are looking into whether he could be paid by some other entity and still serve as ambassador, or whether a de-facto ambassador position could be created in which Mr. Bolton served ambassador for all intents and purposes but not in name.
Such a move would almost certainly inflame relations between the White House and ascendant Democrats, and might kill any further talk about bipartisan cooperation. “It looks like an act out of Cirque du Soleil,” said Senator Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee. He likened the proposed maneuver to “a vision of a contortionist.”
“This John Bolton does not deserve to be promoted,” Mr. Dodd said.
Tony Snow, the White House spokesman, today declined to speculate about Mr. Bolton’s future if he doesn’t get through the Senate. “I think what we ought to do right now is simply allow senators in the lame-duck session to see if they will give John Bolton a fair shake,” he said. “After that, we’ll talk about possibilities.”
Thom Shanker contributed reporting.
By HELENE COOPER
Published: November 10, 2006
WASHINGTON, Nov. 10—President Bush has pledged to be a bipartisan, consensus builder now that Democrats are to control Congress, and since Wednesday he has made conciliatory gestures. The question now is whether Mr. Bush is ready to junk all of his make-nice pledges in order to keep John Bolton at the United Nations.
Officially, administration officials say they plan to make all the necessary calls to Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to try to talk them into confirming Mr. Bolton for a next term as ambassador. “He has been extraordinarily effective up there at the U.N., and now is not the time to have a gap,” said the State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, repeating the official line.
But with Senator Lincoln Chafee’s announcement Thursday that he would deny Republicans on the committee the last vote needed to send Mr. Bolton’s nomination to the full Senate, some administration officials privately acknowledge that Mr. Bolton’s chances of getting Senate confirmation are “nil,” one State Department official said. “We know it’s not going to happen.”
In this situation, the usual next step would be for Mr. Bolton to withdraw from consideration and for Mr. Bush to nominate a less polarizing candidate—perhaps bringing Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad back from Baghdad; or turning to the State Department counselor, Philip D. Zelikow; the under secretary of state for Democracy and Global Affairs, Paula Dobriansky, or even Mr. Chafee himself, following his own re-election defeat. All those names have been floated both inside and outside the administration.
But Mr. Bolton is keen to stay at the helm of the American team at the United Nations, administration officials say, and White House officials, including the legal adviser, Harriet Miers, have been looking into whether Mr. Bush can somehow bypass the Senate and save Mr. Bolton. Administration officials said that Vice President Dick Cheney is backing the exploration of such a move.
Mr. Bolton “could be named ‘acting permanent representative’ or ‘deputy U.N. ambassador’ or something else that doesn’t require confirmation,” one senior administration official said, acknowledging that it might not be worth angering Democrats with such a maneuver.
When senators blocked Mr. Bolton’s confirmation last year, Mr. Bush gave him a recess appointment, which expires when this Congress adjourns. Mr. Bush could give Mr. Bolton a second recess appointment as United Nations ambassador, but under the law he could not be paid for his work. White House officials are looking into whether he could be paid by some other entity and still serve as ambassador, or whether a de-facto ambassador position could be created in which Mr. Bolton served ambassador for all intents and purposes but not in name.
Such a move would almost certainly inflame relations between the White House and ascendant Democrats, and might kill any further talk about bipartisan cooperation. “It looks like an act out of Cirque du Soleil,” said Senator Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee. He likened the proposed maneuver to “a vision of a contortionist.”
“This John Bolton does not deserve to be promoted,” Mr. Dodd said.
Tony Snow, the White House spokesman, today declined to speculate about Mr. Bolton’s future if he doesn’t get through the Senate. “I think what we ought to do right now is simply allow senators in the lame-duck session to see if they will give John Bolton a fair shake,” he said. “After that, we’ll talk about possibilities.”
Thom Shanker contributed reporting.