Three of Bush’s cabinet nominees--Mike Johanns, the agriculture secretary nominee; Margaret Spellings, the education secretary nominee; and Carlos Gutierrez, the commerce secretary nominee--were unanimously approved in committee hearings Wednesday and Thursday. The confirmations in committee should pave the way for a quick floor vote. In other appointment news, Condoleezza Rice has selected Robert B. Zoellick, the administration’s top trade negotiator, to replace Richard Armitage as her deputy secretary of state. The under secretary of state for political affairs, the third-ranking post at the state department, is likely to be either R. Nicholas Burns, the ambassador to NATO, or Eric Edelman, the ambassador to Turkey, according to New York Times sources. John R. Bolton, under secretary of state for arms control and international security, is expected to resign.