Utah Senator Mike Lee, a Republican, is leading a one-man effort to block the nomination of attorney Chai Feldblum to a third term on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump, at the request of Senate Democrats, nominated Feldblum, who is openly gay, and, at the request of Senate Republicans, two others to the EEOC.

On Wednesday, Lee, a Mormon, accused Feldblum of being an “activist” opposed to “religious freedom.” He also said that he could not support her nomination because of her support for same-sex marriage.

“Ms. Feldblum has written that she sees a conflict between religious belief and LGBT liberty as 'a zero-sum game' where 'a gain for one side necessarily entails a corresponding loss for the other side,'” Lee said on the Senate floor. “These are not the words of an open-minded lawyer. These are the words of an activist intent on stamping out all opposition to her cause.”

According to Senate rules, a single senator can block – possibly kill – a presidential nomination to a non-judicial appointment.

Currently, the EEOC will have only two out of five members beginning on January 1. They need at least three members to form a quorum.

In an op-ed, Feldblum denied Lee's assertions, adding that Lee refused to meet with her.

“Senator Lee asserts that my use of the term 'zero sum game' to describe the conflict that can arise between LGBT rights and religious liberty means that I believe LGBT rights must always prevail in such a conflict,” Feldblum wrote. “Senator Lee has it completely backwards. I used the term 'zero sum game' in a law review article in 2006 for the precise purpose of calling attention to the potential conflict that concerns Senator Lee and others. As I have explained, the point of using that term was to force people, particularly defenders of LGBT rights, to acknowledge that a conflict can indeed arise when those who believe homosexuality is sinful are forced to comply with a non-discrimination law protecting LGBT people. It is only if one acknowledges such a conflict in the first place that one can begin to explore what rights should be protected under different circumstances.”

“During the confirmation process, I asked Senator Lee several times to meet with me so he could hear my views directly. He chose not to do. It is unfortunate that I did not have the opportunity to explain to Senator Lee how the quotes he was using failed to capture my full position.”

“Senator Lee and others may feel they have kept a rabid opponent to religious liberty off the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. They are wrong. It is true that they have ensured that someone who cares deeply about both religious liberty and LGBT rights won’t be protecting those interests from the perch of the EEOC. But I have fought for the civil rights of LGBT people, religious people and others for years. I won’t be stopping now,” she concluded.

Lee scored zero on the Human Rights Campaign's (HRC) most recent Congressional Scorecard, a measure of a lawmaker's support for LGBT rights.