Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., Wednesday said he was "extremely concerned" about the threat this week by Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., to hold up all administration nominees in retaliation for the recess appointment of James Hormel as ambassador to Luxembourg.
Daschle suggested Democrats might respond by preventing committees from meeting and holding up legislation.
"It will be a messy set of circumstances if things aren't resolved," Daschle said, although he added that he would not employ such tactics while Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., was trying to reach a solution.
The nomination of Hormel, a San Francisco philanthropist who is gay, had cleared the Senate Foreign Relations Committee but was blocked from reaching the Senate floor, prompting President Clinton to make the recess appointment.
Lott, meanwhile, downplayed possible concerns in financial markets that the controversy could slow down the confirmation process for Deputy Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, who has been named to replace departing Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin.
"A lot of people think that Rubin ought to stay around," Lott joked. "Maybe this is a way to keep him around a little longer."