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Democrats Stall Vote on Rice Confirmation
WASHINGTON - An important part of President Bush (news - web sites)'s second-term plans went slightly off the rails during an inauguration week that ran pretty much on time.
If the White House had its way, Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) would have been confirmed by the Senate as secretary of state on Thursday, when Bush took the oath of office and gave his inaugural address. Rice easily won a vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but Democrats stalled a vote by the full Senate on her nomination.
The delay probably says something about Rice's sometimes indignant responses to tough questions during two days of confirmation hearings last week, and something about the hair-trigger atmosphere in the highly polarized Congress, said Paul C. Light, a New York University professor and fellow at the Brookings Institution.
"My advice to her is, `Chill out, and don't take it personally,'" Light said. "She needs to get used to the prying eyes of Congress."
Rice did not have much direct experience with Congress as White House national security adviser the past four years. This was the first time she has gone through the sometimes rigorous and exhausting confirmation process.
"Condoleezza Rice may have been in the chair, but some may have seen President George Bush (news - web sites) sitting there, so there was a face to face confrontation, some important questions," the committee chairman, GOP Sen. Richard Lugar (news, bio, voting record) of Indiana, said Sunday on CNN's "Late Edition."
The Senate planned to debate the nomination on Tuesday, with a vote set for Wednesday.
Rice's quick move to the State Department was so widely expected that department employees had been told to get ready for a welcome session at the building last Friday. The greeting was to take place in the same mezzanine area where the president's first secretary of state, Colin Powell (news - web sites), bade farewell to employees last Wednesday.
Still on duty, Powell represented the United States at the inauguration on Sunday of Ukraine's democratically elected president, Viktor Yushchenko.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada denied Republicans' suggestions that Democrats are playing politics with Rice's nomination.
Rice is a chief architect of the Bush administration policies in Iraq (news - web sites) and in the overall fight against terrorism, and her record should be reviewed with care, Reid and Sen. Joseph Biden (news, bio, voting record), D-Del., said in a statement Friday.
"To suggest that the Senate should not have any debate about Ms. Rice's performance and the future direction of American foreign policy shows not only a high level of arrogance on behalf of some Republicans, but also a blatant disregard for our constitutional responsibilities," the Democrats said.
Biden was one of Rice's most persistent questioners during last week's committee hearings. Biden was among 16 committee members who vote to recommend Rice's confirmation. He also told her he was exasperated by her responses to some questions about Iraq and other topics.
The Democrats voted against Rice. Sens. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass., and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., cited her record in influencing Bush's first-term foreign policy and her performance at the hearing.
Rice had testy exchanges with Boxer over whether she misled Americans about the threat posed by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites). At one point, Rice asked Boxer to stop "impugning my credibility."
Rice refused to answer some questions about torture methods, and gave what Democrats called incomplete or unhelpful replies on other subjects.
"That's the kind of thing senators don't like," Light said. "They like their questions answered and they don't like to be challenged."
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WASHINGTON - An important part of President Bush (news - web sites)'s second-term plans went slightly off the rails during an inauguration week that ran pretty much on time.
If the White House had its way, Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) would have been confirmed by the Senate as secretary of state on Thursday, when Bush took the oath of office and gave his inaugural address. Rice easily won a vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but Democrats stalled a vote by the full Senate on her nomination.
The delay probably says something about Rice's sometimes indignant responses to tough questions during two days of confirmation hearings last week, and something about the hair-trigger atmosphere in the highly polarized Congress, said Paul C. Light, a New York University professor and fellow at the Brookings Institution.
"My advice to her is, `Chill out, and don't take it personally,'" Light said. "She needs to get used to the prying eyes of Congress."
Rice did not have much direct experience with Congress as White House national security adviser the past four years. This was the first time she has gone through the sometimes rigorous and exhausting confirmation process.
"Condoleezza Rice may have been in the chair, but some may have seen President George Bush (news - web sites) sitting there, so there was a face to face confrontation, some important questions," the committee chairman, GOP Sen. Richard Lugar (news, bio, voting record) of Indiana, said Sunday on CNN's "Late Edition."
The Senate planned to debate the nomination on Tuesday, with a vote set for Wednesday.
Rice's quick move to the State Department was so widely expected that department employees had been told to get ready for a welcome session at the building last Friday. The greeting was to take place in the same mezzanine area where the president's first secretary of state, Colin Powell (news - web sites), bade farewell to employees last Wednesday.
Still on duty, Powell represented the United States at the inauguration on Sunday of Ukraine's democratically elected president, Viktor Yushchenko.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada denied Republicans' suggestions that Democrats are playing politics with Rice's nomination.
Rice is a chief architect of the Bush administration policies in Iraq (news - web sites) and in the overall fight against terrorism, and her record should be reviewed with care, Reid and Sen. Joseph Biden (news, bio, voting record), D-Del., said in a statement Friday.
"To suggest that the Senate should not have any debate about Ms. Rice's performance and the future direction of American foreign policy shows not only a high level of arrogance on behalf of some Republicans, but also a blatant disregard for our constitutional responsibilities," the Democrats said.
Biden was one of Rice's most persistent questioners during last week's committee hearings. Biden was among 16 committee members who vote to recommend Rice's confirmation. He also told her he was exasperated by her responses to some questions about Iraq and other topics.
The Democrats voted against Rice. Sens. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass., and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., cited her record in influencing Bush's first-term foreign policy and her performance at the hearing.
Rice had testy exchanges with Boxer over whether she misled Americans about the threat posed by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites). At one point, Rice asked Boxer to stop "impugning my credibility."
Rice refused to answer some questions about torture methods, and gave what Democrats called incomplete or unhelpful replies on other subjects.
"That's the kind of thing senators don't like," Light said. "They like their questions answered and they don't like to be challenged."
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