Washington – Reversing field after a meeting with President Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said he will continue pushing for a floor vote on John Bolton for U.N. ambassador.
Frist switched positions after first saying Tuesday that negotiations with Democrats to get a vote on Bolton had been exhausted.
Talking to reporters in the White House driveway after he joined other GOP lawmakers for a luncheon with Bush, Frist said: “The president made it very clear that he expects an up-or-down vote.”
About two hours hour earlier, Frist said he wouldn’t schedule another vote on Bolton’s nomination and said that Bush must decide the next move.
Some Republicans urged Bush to continue fighting for Bolton rather than appoint him on his own during the upcoming Senate break – a so-called recess appointment – for fear of sending a weakened nominee to the United Nations.
“That would not be in our best interest,” said Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
But Colorado Republican Sen. Wayne Allard said, “If all else fails and these obstructionist tactics persist, the president will have no choice but to make Mr. Bolton a recess appointment.
“I had hoped that the Democrats would stop their obstruction of President Bush’s nominees in the Senate. John Bolton’s nomination as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations is very important if we want to see reform at the United Nations proceed. Most Americans have lost confidence in the United Nations. Without reform, American support for the institution will wither.”
A recess appointment would only last through the next one-year session of Congress – in Bolton’s case until January 2007.
Bush has said that Bolton, with a history of blunt talk and skepticism about the U.N.’s power, would be ideally suited to lead an effort to overhaul the world body’s bureaucracy and make it more accountable.
Critics say Bolton, who has been accused of mistreating subordinates, would hurt U.S. efforts to work with the U.N. and other countries.
Describing his talk with Bush, Frist said: “The decision in talking to the president is that he strongly supports John Bolton, as we know, and he asked that we to continue to work. And we’ll continue to work.
“It’s not dead. It is going to require some continued talking and discussion.”
Frist, however, also said that some Democrats, led by Sens. Christopher Dodd and Joseph Biden, had “locked down.”
“We’ll continue to work to get an up-or- down vote for John Bolton over the coming days, possibly weeks,” Frist said.
Deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli had greeted Frist’s initial announcement with a declaration that Democrats had left Bolton “hanging in the wind.”
Frist said the president did not discuss the possibility of going around the Senate and making a recess appointment while they are on break. That would allow Bolton to take the job without a confirmation vote and serve until early 2007.
