US News
Bush will move forward with Bolton's nomination to UN post
By DPA
Nov 9, 2006, 19:00 GMT

Washington - US President George W Bush intends to proceed with his nomination of John Bolton as US ambassador to the United Nations despite widespread opposition from the Democratic Party, the White House said Thursday.

Bush wants to proceed with Bolton before the current session of Congress ends and Democrats take control of the legislative body in January. The Senate must agree to the nomination.

US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would continue working to persuade senators to approve the Bolton nomination.

'We believe that he deserves an up-or-down vote (and) that if he gets such a vote that he would win it in the Senate,' McCormack said.

Bolton has been serving as US ambassador to the United Nations since August 2005, when Bush took advantage of a constitutional provision allowing him to appoint the controversial ambassador to the post while the Senate was in recess. But under the rules, Bolton must leave the job by the beginning of the next legislative session if he has not been confirmed.

Democrats on two occasions have succeeded at blocking the nomination in Bush's Republican-controlled Senate, and are poised to take control of Congress' upper chamber after prevailing in elections on Tuesday.

Democrats object to Bolton, a hardline conservative, for his abrasive management style and allegations he berated employees and sought to sack officials in the State Department who did not share his views.