I have been on the phone non-stop with media during the roller-coaster issue of whether or not the Senate Foreign Relations Committee would meet and when. And this was followed up by dramatic, explosive, unbelievable commentary that has thrown the nomination of John Bolton into serious jeapordy.
It is not over. Senators on the Foreign Relations Committee have approximately three weeks to add further to the dossier of concerns and problems that John Bolton’s nomination represents.
A delay is what we got today. What was unexpected was the clear and unambiguous comments from Senator George Voinovich and Chuck Hagel that if a vote was held there and then, John Bolton would not get out of Committee. That’s right. THEY would help vote him down.
Three weeks is not likely to ease the process for Mr. Bolton — and will most likely provide the time to further underscore the flaws in him being nominated for such a key Ambassadorial role.
The Senators today — Barbara Boxer, Harry Reid, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, John Kerry, George Voinovich, Chuck Hagel, and probably many others whom I could not hear as my phone rang off the hook — deserve enormous credit for not letting good policy and good decisions come undone by the White House’s obsession with winning.
This means weeks ahead of hard work and more investigation. I will stick with this — and I hope that TWN readers will too. . .
For those of you who want a taste of the emotional ups and downs of today’s drama on Bolton, this is a good link. The tension oozes out of the screen.
Laura Rozen also has good material as well.
More later.
— Steve Clemons
