. `` But secret holds , I think , have become a reprehensible part of the process here and need to end . '' Sen. Tom Coburn , R-Oklahoma , was the lone Republican on the floor Friday during the nearly two-hour debate on the issue . He objected to Democratic requests to approve the nominees not because he personally opposes them but `` as courtesy to people on my side of the aisle who have problems with some of these nominees . '' Coburn said Republicans have a right to a public debate on nominees they oppose and Democrats are trying to get around that by seeking unanimous consent to quickly confirm them . In fact , Coburn won praise from McCaskill because she said he is the only Republican senator who has made his holds public . Democrats are especially upset because they think most Republicans are getting around a Senate rule adopted three years ago that requires senators to make public their holds once they 've had them in place for six legislative days . Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse , D-Rhode Island , called the practice `` hold-laundering , '' which is when senators rotate a secret hold
Washington -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Frustrated Democrats went to the Senate floor Friday to seek Republican approval for a long list of administration nominees currently blocked by controversial secret holds placed by GOP senators . But a Republican senator objected to each of them as they came up . `` Most of the people on the list , we do n't know why they 're sitting there . We do n't even know who 's making them sit there , '' complained Sen. Claire McCaskill , D-Missouri , who is spearheading Democratic efforts to banish secret holds . `` Enter stage left , the anonymous hold . Or as I like to call it , nobody can blame me cause they do n't know who I am . '' McCaskill said the delay in approving these nominees is particularly agonizing because most of them passed out of committee with little or no opposition . `` If there is a legitimate complaint or grievance against any nominee , I think any senator has a right to be heard and appeal to the body for a vote , '' Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois , the number two Democrat , said Thursday