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Separately, Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, is asking the National Security Agency for details of intelligence requests made by Bolton, said Rockefeller spokeswoman Wendy Morigi.

The White House vigorously defended Bolton on Wednesday, and predicted he will be confirmed as U.N. ambassador despite cracks in support from Republican senators concerned that Bolton has a short fuse and a pattern of mistreating co-workers.

The White House also offered to arrange private meetings between Bolton and any wavering Republicans. There is no indication so far that Bolton might withdraw.

Judge plans to accept Moussaoui guilty plea

WASHINGTON - The only person indicted in the United States in connection with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks plans to plead guilty to charges that could bring him the death penalty, two federal officials said Wednesday.

Zacarias Moussaoui, whose strange behavior throughout the drawn-out case raised questions about his mental competence, met Wednesday with U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema. Afterward, Brinkema pronounced the French citizen fit to enter a plea to the six-count indictment and scheduled a hearing Friday in Alexandria, Va.

"The court finds that the defendant is fully competent to plead guilty to the indictment," Brinkema said in a brief order.

Jeffords will not seek re-election

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - Sen. Jim Jeffords, who single-handedly upset the balance of power on Capitol Hill four years ago when he quit the Republican Party to become an independent, announced Wednesday he will retire at the end of his term next year, citing his own health problems and those of his wife.

The surprise announcement immediately triggered a scramble for Jeffords' seat, one of several that will be up for grabs in next year's midterm elections.

In recent months, Jeffords' family and his staff questioned whether the 70-year-old senator was physically and mentally up to a statewide campaign for a fourth term. He stumbled in a recent radio interview, and was confused about some of his votes. His wife, Liz, is battling cancer.

"It is time to begin a new chapter, both for me personally and for the people of Vermont," said Jeffords, who also has suffered from a bad back and neck. "There have been questions about my health, and that is a factor as well. I am feeling the aches and pains when you reach 70."

Jeffords' retirement will bring an end to a three-decade career in Washington. He won election to the House in 1974 as a Republican, and moved to the Senate in 1988.

In 2001, he abandoned the GOP and aligned himself with the Democrats, putting them in control of the evenly divided Senate. The switch made him a hero among Democrats and a traitor among Republicans.