WASHINGTON - The US Senate was to begin debate Wednesday on the nomination of John Bolton to the post of UN ambassador, with a confirmation vote likely before the end of the week.
Both Democrats, who largely oppose Bolton, and Republicans, who mostly support him, were gearing up for yet another round of heated debate on President George W. Bush's contentious nominee.
"We are both, on both sides, eager to proceed with the nomination, which we plan to do today," Majority Leader Bill Frist said on the Senate floor Wednesday.
The move by Republican leaders to put Bolton on the Senate's schedule signals the possible final chapter in what has been one of the most controversial presidential nominations of recent years.
Two weeks ago, a Senate panel tasked with vetting the nomination took the rare step of withholding an endorsement for Bolton. The committee did, however, agree to send the nomination to the full Senate for confirmation.
Bush's nominee barely squeaked out of the polarized Senate committee, after one Republican member, George Voinovich, issued a scathing denunciation of Bolton -- who has been criticized at times for being abusive toward junior staff members and intelligence analysts -- as the "poster boy" for precisely how not to be a diplomat.
Bolton's supporters counter that his direct manner is just what is needed to help reform the scandal-plagued United Nations.
If confirmed by the Senate, Bolton would be charged with arguing Washington's case on vital foreign policy issues -- from nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea, to the future of the world body itself.
But opponents say he lacks the credibility to do so, and accuse him of having hyped flawed intelligence on China, Iran, North Korea and Syria.
Voinovich, who agreed not to block the nomination from advancing to the full Senate, stepped up his criticism of Bolton this week, circulating a letter to his fellow senators expressing "deep concerns" about the senior State Department official, and urging colleagues to vote against him.
"John Bolton's nomination sends a negative message to the world community," Voinovich said in the letter released late Tuesday.
"We cannot afford to put at risk our nation's ability to successfully wage and win the war on terror with a controversial and ineffective ambassador to the United Nations."

05/25/2005 15:48 GMT