Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will not honor any "holds" used by Senate Republicans to stall votes on President Barack Obama's nominations to lead the Department of Defense and the CIA, the Nevada Democrat said Tuesday.
"A hold means nothing," Reid said during his weekly press briefing.
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham had vowed to use a hold—an informal procedure in which senators inform Senate leaders they oppose a bill or nomination reaching the floor in order to stall a vote—on defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel and CIA director nominee John Brennan. He said he needs to hear more information about the deadly September attack on an American compound in Benghazi, Libya, before proceeding. Graham, who made his vow on CBS's "Face the Nation" Sunday, added that he did not think the Senate should vote on the nominations "until the White House gives us an accounting" of events surrounding the attack, but he stopped short of vowing a filibuster.
Reid, who said he planned to schedule a vote on Hagel's nomination later this week, said he would ignore Graham's request.
In response, Graham called the planned vote "a mistake."
"We don't have enough information," Graham told Yahoo News. "We're not going to get jammed on something this important."