The White House rethought its plan to appoint John Bolton as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations over the July 4th recess period both because of the anti-Bolton dust that was kicked up in the press about that tactic and because it would show that the White House was weak before a key three-week long legislative period.
The Washington Post‘s Charles Babington and Dafna Linzer now report that Bolton, who previously had misgivings about accepting this position by way of a recess appointment, is now fine with those terms. They also report that the President will appoint Bolton by recess appointment if Senators and the White House can’t come to an agreement on the documents that have kept Bolton from getting an up-or-down vote.
Here is an excerpt:
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 a sign that the White House has its hands full and is willing to send to the United Nations a person who does not have the full backing of the American people — when there are so many better potential ambassadors who could easily go there with the support of the United States Senate.
— Steve Clemons
