Under pressure to quit, Dianne Feinstein says she plans to return to the Senate
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, after enduring a day of intensifying pressure to step down, said Wednesday she intends to return to the Senate “as soon as possible once my medical team advises me that it’s safe to travel.”
The Senate returns to work Monday after a two week spring recess, but Feinstein did not specify when she would return.
The veteran California Democrat issued a three paragraph statement after a day of increasing pressure to resign, including a plea from Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Fremont and Dean Phillips, D-Minn.
Feinstein, 89, who has not cast a Senate vote since Feb. 16, has missed 57 votes, many of them involving judges. Though most have been confirmed, Senate colleagues are concerned that her absence in a Senate where Democrats control 51 of the 100 seats could jeopardize future nominees.
The senator was diagnosed with shingles in February and had anticipated returning at the end of March.
“Unfortunately, my return to Washington has been delayed due to continued complications related to my diagnosis,” Feinstein said.
In the meantime, she plans to continue working from her home in San Francisco.
“I understand that my absence could delay the important work of the Judiciary Committee, so I’ve asked (Majority Leader Chuck) Leader Schumer to ask the Senate to allow another Democratic senator to temporarily serve until I’m able to resume my committee work,” she said.
The committee considers judicial nominees and legislation affecting crime and courts.
Earlier Wednesday, Khanna had tweeted that “While she has had a lifetime of public service, it is obvious she can no longer fulfill her duties.” Feinstein was first elected to the Senate in 1992.
He said that “not speaking out undermines our credibility as elected representatives of the people,” said Khanna, a prominent progressive voice who had considered seeking the seat next year.
Phillips quickly tweeted he agreed with Khanna.
If the California Democrat were to step down, Gov. Gavin Newsom is prepared to name a Black woman to the seat.
Newsom said in 2021 that if Feinstein resigns before her term ends in January 2025, he would appoint a Black woman to fill the seat. The instant frontrunner is likely to be Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland.
The question about a midterm Feinstein successor was raised on MSNBC’s “Reid-Out” program. When Newsom was asked if he would appoint a Black woman to the seat, he said “We have multiple names in mind and the answer is yes.”
Wednesday, asked if he still has that view, his office signaled that he remains steadfast in his plan to appoint a Black woman. In response, it sent The Bee a 2021 story that reported on Newsom’s initial statement to MSNBC host Joy Reid. It also sent his statement praising Feinstein’s career, a statement issued when she announced her retirement
The 100-member Senate currently has no Black women and three Black men. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is Black, represented California in the Senate for four years before being elected to her current office in 2020.
Newsom named Sen. Alex Padilla to fill her seat, and last year he became the first Latino elected as a U.S. senator from California.
Feinstein has said she will not seek re-election next year. But her health, frail appearance and occasional mental lapses have fueled speculation that she may not finish the term.
Feinstein successors
Other than Lee, Newsom’s choices could include Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors member Holly Mitchell and San Francisco Mayor London Breed, said Steven Maviglio, a California Democratic consultant.
Lee would become the favorite for several reasons. First elected to the House in 1998, she has already launched a 2024 campaign for Senate.
Lee would have strong support from the state’s influential progressives as well as Black communities. She has chaired both the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
She’s running for the Senate in 2024, and an appointment this year “would really propel her. It would help her fundraising immediately,” said Maviglio.
But her appointment is no sure thing. Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Los Angeles, and Katie Porter, D-Orange County, are also seeking the Feinstein seat in 2024.
In a Berkeley-Institute of Governmental Studies Poll in February, Lee ran a distant third with 8%. Schiff had 23% and Porter had 20%.
The institute’s co-director Eric Schickler noted that the race was wide open and “It will likely be several months before most voters tune into the race.”
Christian Groce, academic director of the Schwarzenegger Institute at the University of Southern California., said his guess is that Newsom would appoint either one of the three leading candidates or a caretaker, someone without obvious political ambitions who’d be unlikely to seek a full term next year..
A caretaker would be able to “avoid getting into the three-way Democratic battle among already declared candidates,” Grose said.
He listed several potential caretakers: Former Sen. Barbara Boxer; former Gov. Gray Davis; House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco; Katherine Feinstein, a former San Francisco County Superior Court judge and the senator’s daughter.
This story was originally published April 12, 2023 at 12:51 PM with the headline "Under pressure to quit, Dianne Feinstein says she plans to return to the Senate."
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