At least one United States senator has placed a “secret hold” on the confirmation of Chai Feldblum, an openly lesbian Georgetown Law School professor nominated by President Obama to be one of five commissioners on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to Lisa Keen of Keen News Service:

A Senate committee approved all the nominations, including Feldblum’s, as a group in December.

A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday that Reid is “working to get an agreement” with Republicans to consider the nomination of Feldblum and other EEOC commissioners.

There is no indication in the Congressional Record or the Senate Calendar as to who has put the hold on the confirmation of Feldblum and the others. While the Congress recently enacted legislation to make it harder for senators to anonymously put such holds on confirmations and bills, there are still ways in which they can do so.

Feldblum’s nomination is opposed by socially conservative groups who cite her past advocacy for LGBT equality as evidence she won’t be impartial in enforcing U.S. EEO laws.  Last October, Victory Fund president and CEO Chuck Wolfe called for an end to “anti-gay witch hunts” against Obama’s LGBT nominees.