Senate vote on Bolton put off

WASHINGTON — The twisting route toward a formal confirmation vote on John R. Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations took another unexpected turn on Thursday when Senate committee action on the nomination was suddenly put off.

The delay appeared to represent the influence of international affairs on this year's congressional elections. Senate officials from both parties said the decision to scrub the vote in the Foreign Relations Committee at the last minute came at the request of Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee, R-R.I., who faces a primary election on Tuesday.

Chafee is considered a moderate Republican and has a conservative primary opponent who says the senator too often breaks with party ranks.

Sen. Richard G. Lugar. R-Ind., the committee chairman, gave no reason for putting off the vote except that he routinely extended the courtesy of such delays when members requested additional time for considering important issues. He did note that in this instance it had been "a Republican request."

Bolton became the U.N. ambassador under a recess appointment by President Bush, bypassing the Senate after Democrats blocked a floor vote on the nomination last year. At the time, Republicans were six votes short of the number required to break a filibuster. The recess appointment expires when this Congress does, in January.

As Bolton has passed through a second nomination process this year, he has been criticized by Democrats, who contend that he has been ineffective at the United Nations and who accuse him of bullying an intelligence analyst and of abusing his authority by seeking names of Americans whose conversations were captured in eavesdropping operations.

Republicans have countered that Bolton has carried out the Bush administration's foreign policy goals with discipline and energy at the United Nations. That positive assessment was cited in July by Sen. George V. Voinovich, R-Ohio, who withdrew his previous objection and endorsed Bolton.

That switch was thought to have created a fresh dynamic to clear the way for a vote. Even late Wednesday, Senate officials predicted that the nomination would be approved in committee on Thursday, along party lines, and sent to the Senate floor.

Lugar said ample time remained before the end of this Congress. Asked whether further delay might impede the United States in pursuing its diplomatic agenda at the United Nations, he said, "Of course I'm concerned about that."

Although Chafee gave no indication during Thursday's meeting of how he planned to vote, he used a July hearing with Bolton to press for a fuller description of the Bush administration's efforts to bring about Middle East peace.

Given the solid block of Democratic opposition to Bolton, the defection of even a single Republican would prevent the committee from sending the nomination to the Senate floor with the panel's endorsement. The nomination could still be sent to the floor without a recommendation.

After Thursday's meeting, Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., warned that Democrats might prepare to filibuster to prevent a vote on Bolton's nomination if it reached the Senate floor.