Panel Sends Bolton Nomination to Senate without Support

A divided Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday sent the nomination of John Bolton to be U.N. ambassador to the full Senate. But it took the rare step of refusing to endorse the blunt-speaking conservative.
The move kept the contentious nomination alive, leaving its fate in the hands of the GOP-run Senate. By not recommending that senators approve Bolton's nomination, the committee delivered a slap at President Bush in one of the first big battles of his second term.
"It doesn't appear that Mr. Bolton has the confidence of the majority of this committee," said Sen. Joseph Biden (news, bio, voting record) of Delaware, the senior Democrat on the panel. "And I would suggest that it may be worth the president's interest to take note of that."