While the nominee "would not be my choice for a diplomatic position," Chafee says it's the president's decision to make.

01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, May 12, 2005

BY JOHN E. MULLIGAN
Journal Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee expects to join today in a party-line vote by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to recommend Senate confirmation of John R. Bolton's nomination to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

"He would not be my choice for a diplomatic position," said Chafee, one of a few committee Republicans whose reservations about the nomination have given Democrats hope of killing it in committee.

But Chafee said he believes that "the president gets to pick his people" unless there is a compelling reason -- such as "legal and ethical transgressions" -- to vote against a nominee to high office in the executive branch.

"I differ with the president on tax cuts, on the war, on clean air, on the budget" and other key issues, Chafee noted.

As news emerged of Chafee's likely support for Bolton, the undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, Democrats renewed their criticism of the Rhode Island senator, underlining the strong element of partisan politics in the debate.

Rejection of the Bolton nomination would be viewed as a blow to President Bush. Senate Democrats have made clear that they would use a Chafee vote for Bolton as a line of attack against Chafee during his 2006 reelection campaign.

Democrats have fought hard against Bolton's nomination, citing his harshly worded criticisms of the U.N. over the years, the reports that he bullied subordinates who differed with him on policy issues, and some of his actions as the State Department's top arms control official.

For example, Bolton's opponents have attacked him for a sharply-worded speech that criticized North Korea's government during preparations for multilateral talks about its nuclear weapons program in 2003.

Republicans enjoy a 10-to-8 advantage over Democrats on the Foreign Relations Committee, so a party-line vote -- now widely expected -- would send Bolton's nomination to the Senate for likely confirmation.

The nomination appeared headed for committee approval once before, on April 19. But a barrage of criticism by committee Democrats prompted Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, to voice reservations for the first time. Chafee and two other Republicans joined in expressing concerns, so the panel postponed its vote in order to examine allegations against Bolton.

One matter that particularly concerned Chafee was the suggestion that Bolton had overstated the level of State Department approval for his 2003 speech about North Korea.

Chafee said during an interview Tuesday that the record has convinced him that Bolton did indeed have high-level approval to make the speech. Chafee cited a letter from then-Secretary of State Colin Powell to Sen. Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican, in which Powell declared the Bolton speech to have been "fully cleared, consistent with administration policy."

As with a number of other issues tied to the Bolton nomination, Chafee said on the North Korea matter that he disagrees with how the administration chose to conduct its diplomacy. But Chafee said, "It all starts in the White House. Ultimately if they thought this speech was harming our ability to conduct diplomacy, he wouldn't be getting this job."

Chafee said that Powell expressed to him "deep reservations" about the Bolton nomination but told him, in effect, that "ultimately, this is the president's pick."

Chafee said he agrees with Powell's formulation. Chafee said his predisposition to accept a president's appointments is "a matter of deep philosophy" that stems from having been a mayor. He served as mayor of Warwick before his appointment to the Senate in 1999.

Chafee has stressed that he views federal judicial nominations in a different light than executive appointments because they are lifetime jobs. Asked why he did not consider Bolton's outspoken criticisms of the United Nations to disqualify him as a diplomat, Chafee answered, in part, that some of Bolton's fieriest statements date back to years before his service in the Bush administration.

A number of Bolton's former subordinates and associates have accused him of overbearing treatment of those who have disagreed with him on policy questions. Chafee was asked why those charges, including reported efforts by Bolton to remove subordinates, have not moved him to oppose Bolton's nomination.

"What's important there is he wasn't successful at moving anybody," Chafee said. "The process worked. Nobody lost their jobs."

Rhode Island Secretary of State Matt Brown, a Democratic candidate for Chafee's seat, yesterday criticized Chafee's explanation on two grounds. First, Brown expressed doubt about Chafee's stated reason for his position. Brown said Chafee favors Bolton "because the White House wants him to." Brown said Chafee is not acting out of a belief that a president should generally be granted the executive appointments he wants.

Second, Brown rejected the philosophy that says a president should get wide latitude on executive appointments. Brown said that if he is elected to the Senate he will not give any president -- Democrat or Republican -- the benefit of the doubt on nominations that must be confirmed by the Senate. "A senator should not be a rubber stamp," he said.

Bolton "is too extreme a person to represent the United States at the U.N.," Brown said.

Former Rhode Island Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse, another Democratic candidate for Chafee's seat, said through a spokesman yesterday that he would withhold comment until after Chafee votes. But Whitehouse has already criticized the Bolton nomination and Chafee's approach to it.

In a letter to Chafee last month, Whitehouse said, referring to the nominee's criticisms of the U.N., "Mr. Bolton has exhibited little respect for the international body that seeks to maintain and promote peace and provide humanitarian relief to troubled nations."