Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is accusing Republicans of undermining national security, saying GOP filibusters of White House nominees are leaving critical posts empty at the State Department and Department of Homeland Security.

In caustic opening remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday morning, Reid said Republicans are playing "games" while the nation remains under terrorist threat.

“Republicans have repeatedly asked fearful families to put their concerns on hold while they score political points and play partisan games," Reid said.

The majority leader, who is increasingly frustrated with his chamber's inability to confirm certain White House nominees, says Republicans have "exploited" and "abused" the rules of the Senate to grind the government to a halt.

"When a young Nigerian terrorist boarded an airplane bound for America on Christmas Day, there was no permanent boss at the TSA – the agency created after 9/11 specifically to keep air travel safe. When he tried to blow up that plane, the top positions at both of the intelligence agencies within the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security were similarly empty," Reid said. “Why? Because Republican senators refuse to let this body hold a vote on the highly capable people the President has asked to serve in those roles."

Reid listed names of what he deems as four "exceptionally qualified" nominees that have been blocked, including the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness; the Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research; the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis and the U.S. Representative to the Conference on Disarmament.

Republicans also successfully filibustered the nomination of Erroll Southers to run the TSA — and he later pulled his name from consideration last month.

"For political reasons, a handful of Republican senators are standing between these experts and their offices," Reid said. "And that means they are also standing between the American people and their security.

But Republicans claim the blame for the lag in nominee confirmation falls squarely on Reid's shoulders, since he makes the Senate schedule.

"The majority leader schedules the floor and currently has 60 votes in his conference. If he is concerned that we’re not processing Homeland nominees then why are we currently considering a labor nominee instead on the Senate floor?," a GOP leadership aide told POLITICO.

The aide also said that Reid's suggestion that the Senate merely should act as a rubber stamp on the administration's nominees shows disregard for the chamber's process.

"Suggesting that the Senate should’ve quickly confirmed a deeply flawed nominee who ultimately withdrew his name amid a public uproar shows a total disregard for the process of advise and consent," the Republican aide said, referring to the Southers nomination.

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