GOP to Try Again to Force Bolton Vote

Senate Republicans will make a second attempt on Monday to break a Democratic filibuster blocking a confirmation vote on John R. Bolton, President Bush’s choice for U.N. ambassador, Majority Leader Bill Frist (D-Tenn.) announced Thursday.

Democrats said they were ready. “It’s unlikely that [Republicans] will have the votes on Monday,” said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Democratic Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). He said the party rank and file were united in efforts to gain access to information from the Bush administration about Bolton, some of it highly sensitive.

For his part, Bolton met briefly during the day with his two most vocal Democratic opponents -- Sens. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware and Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut.

Dodd’s spokeswoman, Stacie Paxton, said the senator asked Bolton to persuade Vice President Dick Cheney to release information the Democrats have requested about National Security Agency intercepts.

She said Bolton had no response. One Democratic official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the session was arranged by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Republican officials conceded they are unlikely to pick up the two votes they need to reach 60, the number required to force a final confirmation vote on Bolton, a conservative policymaker whose brusque personal style has drawn criticism.

A second straight defeat could force President Bush to decide whether to withdraw the nomination, authorize further concessions to the Democrats, or possibly bypass the Senate and install Bolton by giving him a recess appointment during Congress’ Fourth of July break.

Democrats want to see drafts of speeches that Bolton wrote in his former State Department job concerning the claimed presence of weapons of mass destruction in Syria.