Bolton Nomination Stalled, Not Dead

By a vote of 54-38, the Senate failed to halt debate on the nomination of John Bolton to be America’s next UN ambassador. The President and his party needed 60 votes and couldn’t get them. The GOP whined about Democratic obstructionism, and the Democrats railed about White House stonewalling. But it doesn’t matter. Mr. Bolton will get a recess appointment, thereby getting the job until this session of Congress ends, and he won’t have a bit of success in changing the UN anyway.

Under the US Constitution, the President gets to make appointments to various high offices only “by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate.” The Founding Fathers were, however, a bit sneaky by adding Article II, Section, clause 3, which reads, “The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.”

This is the so-called “recess appointment” is how Mr. Bolton is going to get the UN job. The Senate will recess for the July 4 holiday, and that will be that. Mr. Bolton’s nomination has been a flash point for reasons that mystify anyone who actually understands what the UN job is. Being America’s ambassador to the UN would be the emptiest job in the land, except the vice-presidency exists.

Despite being a cabinet-level job, the UN Ambassador has less significance than many deputy secretaries. Being in New York rather than Washington means the Ambassador is out of the loop during any crisis (video conferencing helps, but only a bit). Moreover, he is part of a foreign policy team in which he has no assets of his own. His staff all belongs of the State Department, the Defense Department runs most US foreign policy in Iraq where the UN might be most useful, and when the debate got heated in February 2003, the Secretary of State went to the Security Council to have his credibility shredded, trumping the Ambassador.

So, Mr. Bolton will get the job, and the rightists and neocons are ever so excited about him cleaning up the UN. Much like a drug addict, international institutions only clean themselves up when they hit rock bottom. And reform, if it is to happen, has to come from the other member states as well. After being told for months, even years, by the Bush administration that they aren’t worth anything, these other members aren’t likely to help. Indeed, the few areas of reform where there is a majority are places that the US doesn’t want to change – for instance, expanding the Security Council and adding new members with vetoes. This whole affair is meaningless, except insofar as it illustrates just how rudderless US policymaking has become.


© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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