This afternoon, at
2:15 pm ET, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will meet again to consider the nomination of John Bolton for US Ambassador to the UN. You can watch the broadcast online at
C-SPAN and join us here for a live discussion.
Update [2005-4-19 14:21:43 by catnip]: C-SPAN has changed the broadcast time to 2:45 pm ET in order to finish covering the dedication of the Oklahoma City Memorial on C-SPAN 3. Please take a moment today to remember the victims and all affected by that horrendous tragedy on that dark, dark day. Thank you.
Update [2005-4-19 15:10:11 by catnip]: Okay. The senate has voted to recess, allowing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to meet to discuss Bolton. Many Dems opposed the recess in an attempt, I assume, to stall the hearings and subsequent vote on Bolton and to allow for futher investigation, but majority rules once again. C-SPAN has decided to use C-SPAN 2 to cover the committee meeting. I want to thank FleetAdmiralJ for keeping us informed about the meaning of these procedural maneuverings this afternoon. His help has been invaluable. I don't know if he likes pie, however.
As it stands right now, it appears that Bolton's nomination will pass with a vote of 10-8 along strict party lines. Republican senators Chafee and Hagel are expected to vote in favour, despite reservations. There had been some hope last week that Chafee would oppose, but that is unlikely now.
According to published reports, Senator Biden (D-Del) may ask the committee to delay its vote in order to further investigate allegations of wrongdoing by Bolton. That request most likely will not be granted, since the Republicans on the committee appear to want to get this vote done as soon as possible. Therefore, the vote will most likely occur sometime this afternoon and yet another neocon will have been pushed into a place of international prominence by the Bush administration.