[JURIST] The Bush administration said Thursday that the US Senate was "trying to play politics" by putting off a vote on the status of John Bolton [official profile] as US ambassador to the United Nations [official website]. Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) [official website] moved to table a committee vote [JURIST report] on Bolton last week and the White House says it has been trying to address his concerns. Chafee is the deciding vote on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee [official website] and observers expect he will continue to oppose the Bolton nomination in an effort to distance himself from President Bush in the run-up to the November elections.

Bolton was made the US UN ambassador last year by recess appointment [JURIST report] after the Democrats blocked a floor vote on his nomination. White House spokesman Tony Snow said Thursday that the current delay is not about Bolton's performance as ambassador but rather due to "old political grievances." Reuters has more.