WASHINGTON — Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, both R-Tenn., have struck a retaliatory blow at Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in their partisan spat over two Tennessee Valley Authority board nominees.

WASHINGTON — Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, both R-Tenn., have struck a retaliatory blow at Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in their partisan spat over two Tennessee Valley Authority board nominees.

In a procedural move late Thursday night, the Tennessee lawmakers objected to one of Sen. Reid’s appointments to the Institute of Peace, a protest of his refusal to allow votes on TVA nominees Bishop William Graves and Susan Richardson Williams.

In doing so, the senators prevented a slate of 80 appointments, including President Bush’s nomination of Steve Preston as secretary of Housing and Urban Development, from being voted on by the full chamber.

“I dislike very much having to do this, but the Democratic leader left me no choice,” Sen. Alexander said. “I dislike more letting him run over the people of Tennessee this way by locking up two valuable TVA board members in the middle of an energy crisis.”

Sen. Reid has held up the reappointments of Mr. Graves and Ms. Williams, both of whom are Republicans, because he wants more Democratic representation on the TVA board. The lone Democrat on the board, Skila Harris, retired this week when her term expired.

Jim Manley, a spokesman for Sen. Reid, called the retaliatory action “stunning” and said that the majority leader and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten had agreed on the slate of appointments, including Mr. Preston, Institute of Peace board members, ambassadors, undersecretaries and military officeholders.

The slate appeared headed for smooth passage in the Senate until the Tennessee lawmakers objected to Sen. Reid’s nomination of Dr. Ikram Khan to the Institute of Peace, a nonpartisan government think tank.

Mr. Manley said the move “left at least 80 nominees twisting in the wind, for whatever reason, including a new housing secretary. (Their) actions were stunning, especially in light of the need to confirm a new housing secretary in the midst of a housing crisis.”

Sen. Corker said the objection was a last resort to protest Sen. Reid’s politicization of the TVA board composition. Mr. Graves, of Memphis, and Ms. Williams, of Knoxville, were reappointed to a second term on the public utility’s board by President Bush after their terms expired May 18.

“The Environment and Public Works Committee that is controlled by the majority leader’s party unanimously approved the reappointment of both nominees, and yet the majority leader, through his refusal to let the Senate vote on these qualified nominees, is taking us to the lowest possible level as it relates to partisan issues,” Sen. Corker said in a statement.

Meanwhile, President Bush this week nominated Michael Bemis, of Mississippi, to replace the retired Ms. Harris on the TVA board.

Mr. Bemis, a Republican, has more than 20 years of experience in the energy industry, including stints at Exelon Corp., Entergy, London Electricity PLC, Louisiana Power & Light, Mississippi Power & Light and Arkansas Power & Light.

Mr. Bemis would serve on the TVA board through 2013 if he is confirmed by the Senate.