WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. told a Senate committee Tuesday he is opposed to a special prosecutor being appointed to look into leaks of secret material to the media.

Meanwhile, New Hampshire’s Sen. Kelly Ayotte has joined fellow Republican Sen. John McCain in introducing a Senate resolution that calls for an independent investigation.

“The public disclosure of classified information is illegal and undermines our national security — potentially endangering ongoing operations and American lives,” Ayotte said in a written statement.

“Since it appears that administration officials may have been involved in the leaks, it’s critical to appoint an outside special counsel to conduct an independent investigation, and to ensure that those responsible are held accountable,” said Ayotte, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

During his appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, Holder expressed full confidence in the U.S. attorneys in Washington, D.C., and Maryland handling the leak investigation, and said there was no need for a special prosecutor.

“That would necessarily mean having to find someone, staff them up, find office space,” Holder said of using an independent prosecutor. “And the need is for us to operate with some degree of haste and some degree of speed.”

Holder said members of the Department of Justice’s national security division have been recused from participating in new investigations into leaks of classified information to the media, but he insisted that the decision does not signal they were part of the unauthorized disclosure of secret material.

Holder said that he and FBI Director Robert Mueller III have already been interviewed by two teams of prosecutors about what they knew about the leaks into secret drone attacks, cyber warfare and other clandestine operations.

Holder said only those members of the Justice Department’s national security division who worked on matters that were compromised by the leaks, such as drones and cyber warfare, were recused from participating in the investigation.

“That’s a matter of routine,” he said. “It doesn’t mean these people did anything wrong. It’s just that their section might have had access to the material that was exposed.”