Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said this week he will block consideration of all new administration officials President Obama wants confirmed until congressional leaders agree to fund a dredging study for the Port of Charleston.

It is the latest effort by South Carolina to win federal support to deepen Charleston’s harbor in time to receive the much larger container ships expected to serve deep-draft ports along the Eastern Seaboard once the larger Panama Canal locks open in 2014.