Adam Szubin has served in both the Bush and Obama administrations and was asked to stay on by the Trump tesm. | AP Photo Obama Treasury official Senate GOP refused to confirm is among those Trump asked to stay on

Adam Szubin spent the past two years acting as the Treasury Department's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence while Senate Republicans refused to confirm him and other Obama administration nominees.

On Thursday, the incoming Trump administration named Szubin as one of the officials asked to stay in his post—while attacking Democrats for not supporting nominees in recent weeks in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Sean Spicer, the incoming White House press secretary, told reporters Thursday at a news conference in Washington that the president-elect would keep Szubin on, citing the need to keep crucial government posts filled in the new administration’s first days.

Senate Republicans refused to hold a confirmation vote for Szubin after Obama moved to appoint him to the permanent undersecretary post in 2015. He had bipartisan support, but the reasons Republicans blocked his nomination was unclear. That prompted Democrats to accuse the GOP of intentionally paralyzing Obama’s government.

On Thursday, Spicer went on to accuse Senate Democrats of unfairly slowing down the confirmations of Trump Cabinet nominees. "I think what's a shame right now is to see some of those individuals who we would call consensus candidates— people who even they didn't find a problem with, people like secretary Elaine Chao, Ben Carson, Nikki Haley — suddenly not be part of Sen. [Chuck] Schumer's list that he will work with us to get done on Day One," Spicer said. "It's disappointing."

Szubin, who served in both the Bush and Obama administrations, has been serving in his post at Treasury in an acting capacity since early 2015. He was nominated formally in April 2015. The Senate Banking Committee approved his nomination almost a year later; it has been stalled in the full Senate since then.