On the recordApril 29, 2010
They can still do that even after the secret holds. Mrs. McCASKILL. Absolutely. If someone is trying to leverage--I do not agree with it, but that is their right as a Senator--if they want to leverage a project in their State by saying to the administration: I won't let you have any nominees to go to work in that agency until that agency gives me what I want--that is their right. People should know about it. I don't think it would be very popular. People might have a problem with that. That is the beauty of the secret hold. They never have to tell that they are leveraging a nominee to get something they want out of an agency. That is why we need to end the secret hold. Simple.
