WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush is considering renominating John Bolton as the US ambassador to the United Nations, a year after appointing him to the job over Senate objections, aides said on Thursday.White House spokesman Tony Snow said White House officials were talking to Indiana Republican Sen. Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, about renominating Bolton for the position. The job requires Senate confirmation.
Bush gave Bolton a recess appointment last August -- meaning he appointed Bolton to the job when the Senate was in recess -- because many senators opposed the former State Department official for what they called an abrasive style. That appointment will run out at the end of the current congressional session in January.
Ohio Republican Sen. George Voinovich, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who opposed BoltonÂ’s nomination a year ago, said on Thursday he would now support him for the job.