The Senate sent the controversial Pentagon nomination of Morton Halperin back to the White House without a vote Saturday night, leaving President Clinton to decide whether to resubmit it in 1994.
Nominated as assistant secretary of defense for democracy and peackeeping, Halperin has been the target of opposition from conservatives who claim his writings and activities indicate he could pose a threat to national security.The Senate Armed Services Committee held a stormy hearing on the nomination Friday, and the Senate's action had been expected.
Halperin's career stretches from his work in the Nixon administration as a national security aide - he resigned in 1969 to protest the White House's policy on Vietnam - to directing the Washington office of the American Civil Liberties Union.