Dianne Feinstein faces mounting resignation calls after missing nearly 60 Senate votes

12 April 2023

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is facing heightened calls for her resignation as she continues to battle health complications that have contributed to her absence for nearly three-quarters of the Senate voting that has taken place this year.

According to Newsweek, the 89-year-old lawmaker, who is the oldest in the Senate and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has missed a total of "58 Senate votes, meaning she has failed to vote in 60 votes of the 82 Senate votes taken in 2023 so far."

Over the last few weeks, more concerns have been raised about Feinstein's fitness to serve. The lawmaker is currently recovering from shingles. Although the condition is non-life threatening, Feinstein was hospitalized and has been home in San Francisco, Calif., recovering since March 7.

In the meantime, Senate Democratic lawmakers have faced obstacles pushing key initiatives through Congress in Feinstein's absence. In fact, there is a strong chance Feinstein will be absent for the next vote scheduled for April 17. The latest concerns were raised by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin on Monday, April 10.

Per the news outlet, Durbin "agreed that Feinstein's current absence is impacting the process of confirming judicial nominees. The committee is split 10-10 with Feinstein missing, with Durbin telling CNN that he currently cannot 'consider nominees in these circumstances because a tie vote is a losing vote.'"

During a recent segment of his podcast, "Pod Save America," Jon Lovett, — Crooked Media's owner — weighed in with his reaction to Durkin's remarks as he also echoed the call for Feinstein's resignation

"There has been a lot of reporting about Dianne Feinstein no longer being fit to serve in the Senate representing the biggest state in this country," Lovett said on his podcast.

Lovett also touched on Feinstein's latest health complications. Although he noted that her condition was unforeseen, it is impacting Senate lawmakers' ability to move forward with key initiatives.

"She is currently out for shingles—that is sad, that is obviously not her fault—but because she is not in the Judiciary Committee, Durbin has said that it has made it basically impossible to move a lot of these lower Court nominees to the Senate for a vote, which means that Dianne Feinstein, who should not be in the Senate, is now preventing us from being able to confirm judges," Lovett said.

He added, "And as sad as it is to see someone who's had an incredibly storied and long and important career and has done a lot of good for this state, I think what the people around Dianne Feinstein are doing, being part of this farce of having a lack of a senator and an important job, is really wrong."

Lovett went on to make his sentiments clear saying, "Dianne Feinstein should no longer be in the Senate. She should resign and more people should be calling on her to resign."

Newsweek's full article is available here.

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