WASHINGTON, May 27 (Xinhuanet) -- In another setback for US President George W. Bush, the Democrats forced a delay in the confirmation vote of John Bolton on Thursday to become the next US ambassador to the United Nations.

    By a vote of 42 to 56, the Democrats in the Senate managed to get enough support for a procedural maneuver to prolong the debateon Bolton's nomination, while the Republicans were just four votes short of the 60 necessary to bring Bolton's nomination to a final vote.

    The Republicans reacted bitterly as Senator Bill Frist, the majority leader, said he was "very very disappointed," while the Democrats insisted that they need additional time to pressure the Bush administration to produce additional classified information on Bolton.

    The additional information that the Democrats sought on Bolton included his congressional testimony in the summer of 2003 over Syria's alleged attempts to produce weapons of mass destruction.

    Thursday's unexpected move put off the Bolton confirmation voteuntil at least June 7, when the Senate returns from the Memorial Day break.

    The nomination of Bolton, the current undersecretary of state in charge of arms control and international affairs, has sharply divided the US foreign policy and intelligence communities. While the conservatives embrace his robust calls for intervention against nations suspected of harboring terrorists and his denunciations of the United Nations, others have accused Bolton ofbeing a bully and can not represent the United States at the United Nations.

    "The United Nations is the world's preeminent diplomatic body. Now more than ever, America needs to put our best face forward to the international community. We can and should do better than JohnBolton," Democrat Senator Ted Kennedy said at the Senate floor on Thursday.

    Bolton has been criticized for trying to shape intelligence estimates on Cuba, Syria and other issues to reflect his own viewsand having a history of berating people he worked with and of seeking to remove those who disagree with him.

    After postponing a confirmation vote twice, a deadlocked Senate Foreign Relations Committee directly sent on May 12 Bolton's nomination to the full Senate without endorsing the State Department hawk.

    By blasting Bolton as "the poster child of what someone in the diplomatic corps should not be," Republican Senator George Voinovich at the committee criticized the nomination by President Bush and said Bolton was unfit for the job.

    The White House has expressed dismay over the Senate's delay inthe final vote over Bolton's nomination. Meanwhile, the White House has indicated that President Bush was not considering a recess appointment of Bolton at this point.

    Throughout the prolonged confirmation process, President Bush and his top aides have stood fast in defending Bolton against his critics and gave their backing to Bolton's nomination.

    "John Bolton is someone that has a tremendous amount of experience. He has been confirmed by the Senate four times," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said at a briefing in early May.

    "He's someone who has had a couple of decades of service to hiscountry in the government. And he brings a lot of passion, a lot of experience and sometimes a little bluntness to the position. But we believe those are the type of qualities that are needed to go about the important work of reforming the United Nations, and that's why the president believes so strongly that he is the rightperson at the right time to fill this important position," the spokesman said.

    Although the Democrats successfully delayed the full Senate vote, the Republicans, who enjoy a clear 55-45 majority in the Senate, are expected to try hard to bring the nomination to a final vote when the Senate returns in June. Enditem