The long absence of Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) from the Senate is having a demonstrably negative impact on the ability of Congress to do its job. Given the paper-thin Democratic majority in the Senate, every single vote counts. Thus, unless Sen. Feinstein can guarantee a permanent return to Congress this week, she needs to immediately resign.
Thus far, Sen. Feinstein has missed 78.2% of this session’s Senate votes. By comparison, among currently serving Senators, the median number of missed votes is 2.3%.
Just this week, for example, the Senate voted 50-49 to tank an effort to control truck emissions. Sen. Feinstein’s vote would have allowed VP Harris to break a tie and reverse the outcome. The EPA estimated that the emissions rule would have, by 2045, saved 2,900 people from early death, prevented 18K children from developing asthma, and greatly reduced air pollution. But, hey, the GOP and Sen. Manchin (D-WV) claim the regulations were too burdensome for the $900B trucking industry. So, the trucks win.
Similar tight votes in the Senate are expected as the government tries to deal with the debt ceiling crisis. Those votes will be just too important to miss.
Perhaps even more importantly, Sen. Feinstein’s absence from the Judiciary Committee has paralyzed Democratic efforts to advance federal judges for confirmation. Without her vote, the committee is consistently split 10-10 along party lines and, according to Senate rules, a tie is a loss. When Democrats increased their control of the Senate by one vote in 2022, being able to move nominees out of committees was one of the very few powers they gained. Sen. Feinstein’s truancy has negated that power.
The online noise related to this issue implies both an underestimation of its importance and a misunderstanding of the only logical resolution. Addressing a few misconceptions…
It is not heartless to expect her resignation.
While a case of shingles is the currently stated reason for Sen. Feinstein’s absence, there has been a noticeable decline in both her physical and mental health for quite some time. We can simultaneously be concerned for her health at a personal level while not being blind to the considerable impact at a process level.
There were few complaints about her significant number of missed votes in the last session due to her late husband’s bout with cancer. People have also been willing to accommodate her mental lapses when her voice and votes were mostly nice-to-haves. This session, however, is different and her vote is now decisive. The reasons why she can’t cast that vote must now be considered irrelevant.
It is not sexist to expect her resignation.
I’d have had exactly the same expectation of Sen. Fetterman (D-PA) if his Senate absence had been an equivalent voting issue and/or if it had dragged on for much longer than it did. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claims that people wouldn’t “go after a man who was sick in the Senate.” That’s just crap. No one cares about the gender of the person missing important votes. The votes are being missed. Pelosi should know better than to play the feminist card here. There is nothing feminist about putting ego above duty.
It is not ageist to expect her resignation.
Sure, at 89, Sen. Feinstein is the oldest sitting U.S. Senator. That’s just not saying a whole lot. Sen. Grassley (R-IA) is also 89; Sen. McConnell (R-KY) is 81; Sen. Sanders (I-VT) is 81. The California delegation to the House includes quite a few octogenarians as well. Rep. Napolitano (D-CA) is 86; Rep. Waters (D-CA) is 84; Rep. Pelosi (D-CA) is 83.
By no measure could Congress be considered ageist. Doubts about Sen. Feinstein’s cognitive and physical health have nothing to do with her age.
It is not disrespectful to expect her resignation.
Indeed, it is just the opposite.
Sen. Feinstein has had a long and accomplished career and is only tarnishing her substantial legacy by clinging to her Senate seat. She was the first woman to be elected mayor of San Francisco, the first Jewish woman elected to the U.S. Senate, and the first woman to chair the Senate Intelligence Committee. She authored the Respect for Marriage Act that guaranteed marriage equality.
Unfortunately, her impressive resume could soon be overshadowed, and she could be mostly remembered as the Senator who put her pride ahead of her constituents and her country.
It is not the GOP’s fault that her resignation is necessary.
Damn, that was hard to type.
Sen. Feinstein did attempt to temporarily relinquish her seat on the Judiciary Committee and let another Democrat fill in. That would have at least mitigated some of the issues with her absence. However, such an action requires the consent of a supermajority in the Senate and the GOP declined to grant her request. Honestly, Democrats would have done exactly the same thing if the situation was reversed. Those are the rules. Granting a temporary committee assignment simply isn’t a standard practice and there was no reason whatsoever for Republicans to willingly open the judiciary floodgates.
If Sen. Feinstein DOES resign, we’ll then see if the GOP continues to abide by precedent and allows a truly vacant committee seat to be filled. While there will likely be some objections, I suspect that there are just enough Republican institutionalists to allow it. If not, there are nuclear options available to Democrats which neither side wants to trigger.
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Sen. Feinstein can’t guarantee if or when or for how long she will return to the Senate. It’s also unlikely that she’ll be able to fully participate even if she does return. According to her financial disclosures, Sen. Feinstein is worth at least $58M. That’s quite a good retirement nest egg.
For the good of California, for the good of the nation, and for the protection of her own legacy, Sen. Feinstein needs to graciously step aside to let Gov. Newsom (D-CA) appoint an immediate replacement and schedule a new election.