Republicans Fail to Force Senate Vote on Bolton's U.N. Nomination
By DAVID STOUT
Published: June 20, 2005

WASHINGTON, June 20 - Senate Democrats once again blocked the nomination of John R. Bolton to be ambassador to the United Nations this evening, rejecting pressure from President Bush to give Mr. Bolton a vote on his confirmation.

The Republican leadership's attempt to shut off debate and move to actual confirmation fell six votes short of the 60 required. Today's vote of 54 to 38 was reminiscent of a vote last month, when Mr. Bolton's backers failed by four votes to shut off debate.

The next phase of the long-running fight over Mr. Bolton is not immediately clear. There was some conjecture today that President Bush might choose to install him as ambassador through a temporary appointment while Congress is in recess.

Three Democrats - Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana - voted to end debate. A Republican, George Voinovich of Ohio, crossed party lines and voted to keep the filibuster going.

This afternoon's roll-call was preceded by the kind of exchanges that have marked the Bolton candidacy all along.

"This nomination has taken a long road," Senator Richard G. Lugar, the Indiana Republican who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said today. "We urgently need an ambassador at the United Nations."

But Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, the ranking Democrat on the committee and an opponent of the nomination, said President Bush was continuing to hold back pertinent information about Mr. Bolton's tenure as under secretary of state for arms control. >>>continued

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/20/politics/20cnd-bolton.html