It sounds like John Bolton is indeed destined to be a recess appointment after all:
John R. Bolton’s nomination to be ambassador to the United Nations was the hottest issue in Congress a few months ago. But it has virtually evaporated this summer, eclipsed by speculation over a Supreme Court nominee and the fate of the president’s top political adviser.
With neither the White House nor Senate Democrats showing any sign of yielding in their long-running dispute over documents related to Bolton’s State Department work, speculation is rife that Bolton is prepared to accept a recess appointment good through the end of 2006, despite warnings from some GOP senators that it would weaken his influence and effectiveness.
Realize that there is only a certain amount of political energy that can be focused in X number of directions by both politicos and the news media. Democrats, Republicans and the news media have now moved their attention to newer, less statelmated stories and issues. So Bolton’s choice is continued stalemate or recess appointment. The Washington Post goes on to write:
Although the Senate has twice voted to sustain a filibuster against his nominee, President Bush has refused to surrender the fight over Bolton. “The president continues to believe that John Bolton should receive an up-or-down vote, and he encourages the Senate to move forward on his nomination,” spokeswoman Erin Healy said yesterday.
But an administration source who is close to Bolton said that Bolton is prepared to accept a recess appointment next month unless the administration and Senate Democrats can resolve differences that have held up the confirmation for four months.
“He’ll take the recess” appointment, said the administration source, who is familiar with Bolton’s thinking. “The president has made his selection, and the president is asking the Senate to confirm the selection, and if the Senate refuses to do that, then most assuredly [Bush] will make a recess appointment.”
This is yet another sign, though, of this White House’s no-compromise style. There is no yielding once a firm position is taken (in other words, Democrats: Don’t hold your breath that Karl Rove will resign, no matter what emerges or doesn’t emerge).
What continues to be fascinating is this implicit argument that John Bolton is the ONLY PERSON in the GOP who can fill that slot and achieve the administration’s goals. In the huge pool of GOP talent — diplomats, law professors, political scientists, and businessmen — only John Bolton will do? Even though some in the GOP itself don’t want John Bolton, it MUST be John Bolton?
So why has his nomination stalled? Analysts may give you many reasons, but we’re still convinced it’s due to this.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.