US: The top US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrat said yesterday his party was not likely to have enough votes to block John Bolton's nomination as US ambassador to the UN.
The Senate returns this week from recess and again will take up the contested nomination, which has twice been delayed by Democratic concerns about Bolton, currently the top US diplomat for arms control they say has a record of abusive, erratic behaviour that should disqualify him for the sensitive diplomatic job.
Asked if Democrats would have enough votes to sustain a filibuster, a procedural hurdle used to block action and thereby block the confirmation vote, Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware said, "I'm going to be completely straight with you. I'm not at all certain we do." Sixty votes are needed to end debate and go to a final vote in the full Senate, which Republicans control 55-45.
"Bush will probably be able to win the vote somewhere between 45 and 47 votes against and he'll think it's a victory," Biden told ABC's This Week program.
"He is making a mistake, a serious mistake, not only institutionally, but for his own naked self interest," he added. The Senate put off Bolton's vote after Democrats demanded the White House turn over information to shed light on if Bolton tried to tamper with intelligence assessments.
Democrats, joined by Ohio Republican Senator George Voinovich, say Bolton is a hard-line conservative and a bully who tried to pressure intelligence officials into making their findings support his political views. - (Reuters)