WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Rice declined to rule out the possibility Sunday that President Bush would temporarily make John Bolton the U.N. ambassador if Senate Democrats continue stalling the nomination.

In a round of television interviews, Ms. Rice also gave no indication that the Bush administration would accede to Democrats’ demands for more information about Mr. Bolton’s requests for classified intelligence.

“What we need to do is we need to get an up-or-down vote on John Bolton,” Ms. Rice told ABC’s “This Week.”

Senate Democrats say they will continue to try to block Mr. Bush’s nomination of Mr. Bolton as U.N. ambassador. Although Senate Majority Leader Frist, of Tennessee, plans to try today to end a Democratic filibuster on the nomination, Democrats believe they still have enough votes to continue debate.

Asked on “Fox News Sunday” whether Mr. Bush would consider a recess appointment of Mr. Bolton – a temporary appointment that does not require Senate approval – Ms. Rice said, “We’ll see what happens this week.”

The Senate plans to take a July 4 recess in two weeks. Under the Constitution, a president can make an appointment during a Senate recess without the chamber’s approval of the nominee. That appointment lasts only through the next one-year session of Congress – which in this case would mean until January 2007.

It was unclear whether Ms. Rice’s statement was an indication that the administration would seriously consider a recess appointment for the controversial nominee, or whether it was meant to increase leverage for White House bargaining with Senate Democrats.

“Let’s find out whether, in fact, the Senate, in its whole, in its entirety, intends and wants to confirm him. That’s all that we’re asking,” Ms. Rice, who was interviewed in Jerusalem while on a Middle East trip, said on ABC.

One of Mr. Bolton’s leading opponents, Senator Dodd, a Democrat of Connecticut, said a recess appointment would send to the U.N. an ambassador “who lacks the confidence of the United States Senate.”

Another foe of Mr. Bolton, Senator Biden, a Democrat of Delaware, said a recess appointment would “cripple” Mr. Bolton as he goes to the U.N. and damage his standing with the Senate.

Mr. Dodd said the administration is “filibustering their own nominee” by refusing to supply information related to whether Mr. Bolton tried to “doctor or cook” information regarding American intelligence. Both Messrs. Dodd and Biden suggested that the Democratic filibuster would end once their request was fulfilled. Mr. Biden said a vote would be immediate; Mr. Dodd said a vote would come directly “if in fact there’s no serious problems.”

Democrats say they want to check a list of 36 American officials against names – initially blacked out – that Mr. Bolton requested and received from national security intercepts he reviewed.

Democrats rejected a list of seven names offered last week by GOP Senator Roberts of Kansas, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Mr. Bolton has been accused of intimidating or trying to have fired at least two intelligence analysts because of disagreements over their work. Opponents also have contended that Mr. Bolton’s abrasive management style and past criticism of the United Nations make him a poor choice to be ambassador.