Senate GOP Turns Up Heat Over Bolton

Senate Republicans sought Tuesday to turn up the political heat on Democrats stalling the nomination of President Bush's choice to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

"It's been 200 days that this vacancy sign above our U.N. ambassador's door in New York has been blinking. It is now time to end that," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist told reporters.

The Tennessee Republican said he would schedule a vote at the end of the week to cut off debate on Bolton so that the Senate can hold a final up-or-down vote on Bolton's nomination.

However, it's not clear Frist has enough votes to end debate. Several Democrats would have to side with all Republicans to reach the 60 votes needed to go forward.

Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., said that holding such a vote — even if it doesn't succeed — keeps the pressure on Democrats. "I don't want people to have the impression that we just dropped the Bolton vote," he said.

Democrats complain that the administration has refused to give them access to information they need to make informed decisions on whether Bolton is the right man for the job.