Cabinet Votes Stall in Senate

Voicing displeasure with the Bush administration over prisoner abuse and the Iraq war, Senate Democrats on Wednesday delayed the expected confirmations of Atty. Gen.-designate Alberto R. Gonzales and Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice.

Republicans had hoped in particular that Rice, whose nomination was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, would be confirmed and sworn in today in time for President Bush’s inauguration. But Democrats -- critical of her advocacy of the Iraq invasion, as well as Gonzales’ answers on prisoner abuse and torture -- acted to postpone final votes by at least a day for Rice and possibly more than a week for Gonzales.

The maneuver underscored the limits Democrats intended to try to place on the new, larger Senate Republican majority as Bush pushed an ambitious legislative agenda and a lengthy roster of nominees. Although their numbers in Congress dwindled after November’s elections, Democrats have indicated they plan to challenge the president.

One reason they can do so is that Senate Democrats have the procedural power to snarl work if Republicans try to deny them the right to debate. Thus, while Democrats know they lack the votes to defeat Rice or Gonzales, they can influence when a vote is scheduled.

“There are a number of Democrats ... that want to have a chance to debate [Rice’s] nomination for a couple of hours,” said James Manley, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

Although Rice was approved on a 16-2 committee vote, Democratic leadership aides said they wanted to make a point: They should not be considered a rubber stamp.

“A little bit of debate never hurt anybody,” Manley said.

Several Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee also complained Wednesday that Gonzales had engaged in “gross evasion” and had given “legalistic” answers to questions investigating his involvement as White House counsel in administration policy on the use of torture.

Gonzales acknowledged at his Jan. 6 confirmation hearing that he had participated in meetings discussing the outer bounds of interrogation techniques; he also testified that his office had a role, along with the Justice Department, in producing an August 2002 memo that critics have said led to abuses of detainees in Iraq and Cuba.

But in written responses to a series of follow-up questions, Gonzales declined to provide further details.

Gonzales would not elaborate on the methods of questioning suspected terrorists that were mentioned in the meetings he attended, saying that they contained classified information.

His responses enraged the committee’s Democrats, who employed a procedural move to postpone further discussion and a likely vote on the nomination until Wednesday.

“These are very arrogant answers,” Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) said at a meeting of the panel. “Our committee should not acquiesce in such gross evasion and nonresponsiveness.”

Kennedy has indicated he may vote against Gonzales.

The delay is largely symbolic: Despite rising concern about the nominee among some Democrats, Gonzales -- a longtime Bush confidant and legal advisor -- is expected to win Senate approval.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said she found Gonzales to be “legalistic” in responding to questions during an interview with the nominee Tuesday, and that it was hard to discern “what he really thinks on the subject of torture.” Feinstein said she had not decided whether to support Gonzales’ nomination.

The White House defended Gonzales on Wednesday, saying he had responded to all the panel’s questions and that it would be “unfortunate” to delay the confirmation for partisan reasons.

At his confirmation hearing, Gonzales said he strongly opposed the use of torture; however, he added, it was up to the Justice Department -- not the White House -- to interpret U.S. law on the subject. Though he conceded that he had participated in meetings where questionable interrogation techniques were discussed, he said the Pentagon was ultimately responsible for deciding which methods were to be employed.

As for Rice, Senate Republicans had planned to hold a vote by the full chamber today, but delayed the action after apparent threats by Democrats to carry the debate into the night. Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) were the only senators on the Foreign Relations Committee to vote against Rice.

The panel’s vote came after a second day of questioning that focused on the administration’s reasons for going to war.

Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, the ranking Democrat on the panel, voted for Rice but did so “with a little bit of frustration and some reservation.”

Biden said he hoped to hear candid answers from Rice, formerly Bush’s national security advisor. But instead, he said, Rice “danced around” questions.

“You sort of stuck to the party line, which seems pretty consistent: You’re always right. You all never make any mistakes. You’re never wrong,” Biden said.

Rice defended the decision to invade Iraq, but acknowledged that the administration had faltered in some tasks, such as being ready to rebuild the country.

“We’ve made a lot of decisions in this period of time,” she said. “Some of them have been good. Some of them have not been good. Some of them have been bad decisions, I’m sure.”

Boxer questioned Rice about U.S. overtures to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in the 1980s, when Iraq was at war with Iran. Boxer said that U.S. officials knew of, but overlooked, Hussein’s use of chemical weapons then, yet cited them as a reason for invading Iraq in 2003.

Rice responded that the U.S. government once had been willing to do business with countries that did not embrace American values -- “not a very wise policy,” she said. But that day has passed, she insisted.

“We’ve been, in the Middle East, sometimes blind to the freedom deficit,” she testified. “We’re not going to do that anymore.”

Separately Wednesday, outgoing Secretary of State Colin L. Powell bid an emotional farewell to State Department employees in an appearance in the flag-draped lobby of the agency’s headquarters.

“You were my troops,” the former general told several hundred employees, who responded with roaring applause. “Even though I step down as your secretary, I will never leave you.”

Powell was popular with the U.S. foreign service during his four-year term, and had increased its budget and made many people feel empowered. Many are apprehensive about the arrival of Rice, who is considered closer to Bush.

In other Cabinet developments, Bush’s nominee to head the Health and Human Services Department appeared to be on track toward Senate approval after answering questions before two separate committees this week. Appearing before the Finance Committee on Wednesday, Michael Leavitt pledged to respect the rights of whistle-blowers within the department, such as the Food and Drug Administration’s David Graham, who exposed failings in the agency’s system for monitoring the safety of drugs already approved for patient use.

Senators may vote as soon as today to approve former Bush aide Margaret Spellings as Education secretary after she indicated she would review administration policies on payments that promoted department policies. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.) had threatened to delay her confirmation in response to revelations that the administration had paid $240,000 to conservative commentator Armstrong Williams to plug its policies.

Times staff writers Richard Simon and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this report.