Senate committee postpones vote on Bolton nomination to U.N.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Lincoln Chafee has pulled the plug on a push by his fellow Republicans to confirm John Bolton as U.N. ambassador, saying he had more questions that needed to be answered.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee was expected to vote along party lines during a committee meeting Thursday to approve Bolton. But the panel postponed the vote after Chafee, R-R.I., expressed doubt.

"Sen. Chafee said he still had questions that were not answered," said the senator's spokesman, Stephen Hourahan.

Chafee was expected to send a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice later in the day outlining his questions about Bolton, Hourahan said.

The delay might be brief. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, "I would expect probably early next week they will have an opportunity to take it up again."

The United Nations is grappling with several critical issues and "we are very hopeful that John will get an up or down vote in the Senate and we would urge everybody to vote in a positive way on John's nomination," McCormack said.

During the hearing, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar, R-Ind., gave no reason for the delay and did not say when the vote would be held. Bolton had been opposed by many Democrats but was expected to be confirmed by the Republican-led panel.

Lugar said he removed the nomination from the agenda of Thursday's committee meeting after conferring with several senators.

Joseph Biden, the top Democrat on the panel, said he did not know what the delayed vote means for Bolton, or whether Democrats would push for a filibuster. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said he plans to recommend his colleagues filibuster the floor vote on Bolton to keep him from being confirmed.

Democrats have questioned Bolton's brusque style and whether he could be an effective bureaucrat who could force reform at the U.N.

Biden did say Democrats would not push for a committee vote any time soon. "I feel zero urgency with Mr. Bolton," said Biden, D-Del.