John Bolton, George W. Bush's nominee to serve as UN Ambassador, is still quite a ways away from approval by the Senate, as The New York Times' Sheryl Gay Stolberg reports.

The future of John R. Bolton, whose nomination to be ambassador to the United Nations has been caught up in controversy, hinges on four wavering Republicans, all of whom say they will not make up their minds until Thursday, when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is to vote.

The four - Senators Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and George V. Voinovich of Ohio - are among 10 Republicans on the foreign relations panel, and a "no" vote by any one of them would doom Mr. Bolton's nomination.

But Mr. Voinovich - who insisted last month that lawmakers dig deeper into the accusations against Mr. Bolton, a stunning defection - is the one who makes Mr. Bolton's backers the most nervous.

Mr. Voinovich said Tuesday that he was still reviewing documents related to the nomination. Asked if he was feeling pressure not to buck the party, he said: "My people sent me down here to do what's in the best interests of our nation, and that's what the president wants to do. The issue is, he's recommended someone, and I'm giving that recommendation serious consideration. But if I should decide that I'm not going forward and support him, I don't think that's bucking the party."

As if by cue, the State Department unloaded a new batch of documents that further call into question Bolton's ability to serve as UN Ambassador. Alexander Bolton has the story for The Hill:

State Department officials have shared with Senate Democrats the findings of a sensitive State Department inspector general’s report that could further undermine the nomination of John Bolton to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

The inspector general’s report, which is considered sensitive but not classified, is critical of the expansion of a State Department bureau’s role in assessing intelligence under Bolton during his service as the undersecretary of arms control and international security, according to sources who have read the report.

[...]

The expansion of the bureau’s role, Democratic aides say, was intended to counteract skepticism expressed by State’s main intelligence analyst, the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), over evidence the Bush administration relied on to argue that Saddam Hussein possessed a viable weapons-of-mass-destruction program.

Several Democrats are comparing the augmentation of the Bureau of Verification and Compliance’s responsibility for assessing intelligence to efforts by Douglas Feith, President Bush’s undersecretary for defense for policy, to create an independent intelligence shop within the Defense Department.

Could this all spell an end to Bolton? The answer most likely lies with Voinovich. If Bolton's nomination is eventually nixed in committee, President Bush's credibility and sway within Congress will be severely diminished, placing his domestic agenda in a much more precarious position.