Strangle Holds

‘THIS post is too important to leave vacant any longer, especially during a war,” President Bush declared, announcing his recess appointment of John Bolton to the U.N. ambassadorship. Bolton, who was stalled for months by a high-profile Senate filibuster, is finally at his post in Turtle Bay, but crucial nominees to the Defense and Justice Departments remain in a low-profile limbo, at the mercy of senators who are blocking their nominations because of assorted beefs with the Bush administration. The executive branch might have a war mentality, but it’s September 10, 2001, in the Senate—where partisanship, politics, parochialism, and-in Sen. Trent Lott’s case-Pascagoula remain paramount.

“For the Senate to conduct business as usual with the nation at war, especially at Justice and Defense, is so outrageous,” says a frustrated administration official, regarding the stalled nominations. “They do not see the nation at war; that’s a real difference between this president and Congress.”

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Kate O'Beirne

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‘THIS post is too important to leave vacant any longer, especially during a war,” President Bush declared, announcing his recess appointment of John Bolton to the U.N. ambassadorship. Bolton, who was stalled for months by a high-profile Senate filibuster, is finally at his post in Turtle Bay, but crucial nominees to the Defense and Justice Departments remain in a low-profile limbo, at the mercy of senators who are blocking their nominations because of assorted beefs with the Bush administration. The executive branch might have a war mentality, but it’s September 10, 2001, in the Senate—where partisanship, politics, parochialism, and-in Sen. Trent Lott’s case-Pascagoula remain paramount.

“For the Senate to conduct business as usual with the nation at war, especially at Justice and Defense, is so outrageous,” says a frustrated administration official, regarding the stalled nominations. “They do not see the nation at war; that’s a real difference between this president and Congress.”