Top Senate Republicans said they won’t vote in favor of replacing absent Senator Dianne Feinstein with another Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, signaling a continued halt on most of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees.
(Bloomberg) — Top Senate Republicans said they won’t vote in favor of replacing absent Senator Dianne Feinstein with another Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, signaling a continued halt on most of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer intends to offer a resolution this week to temporarily swap in another senator to replace the 89-year-old Feinstein, who has been at home in California fighting shingles for nearly two months, but GOP Senator John Cornyn of Texas said Schumer shouldn’t expect a single Republican vote in favor.
“I don’t think he’s going to get help from Republicans in the Senate,” Cornyn told Bloomberg. Three other Republicans on the Judiciary Committee — Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee — all tweeted that they would oppose the move.
“I deeply respect Senator Feinstein, but this is an unprecedented request solely intended to appease those pushing for radical, activist judges,” said Tillis, who sometimes works with Democrats.
The Republicans’ stand will increase pressure on the ailing Feinstein to resign her seat entirely, a move she has rejected despite calls for her to retire before the end of her term amid questions about her health and cognitive function.
Feinstein said in a statement last week that she requested the swap to allow work to continue on the committee, which in her absence is split evenly between the two parties and can’t approve Biden’s judicial picks who lack bipartisan support.
Any such move must be approved in the full Senate, and Schumer would need 60 votes to overcome any filibuster. Democrats hold only a 51-49 majority in the chamber.
Schumer said earlier Monday that he’s hopeful some Republicans will go along, since they could need the same help if they have an absent and ailing senator.
“I hope the Republicans will join us in making sure this happens,” he said. “It’s the only right and fair thing to do.”
Feinstein was already under pressure to return to Washington or resign. Last week, Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, called on the senator to step down, saying “it is obvious she can no longer fulfill her duties.” Another Democratic representative, Dean Phillips of Minnesota, also called on her to give up her seat.
While some other Democrats defended Feinstein and said she needs time to recover, a lengthy absence could pose other challenges for Schumer in managing the Senate. Feinstein’s vote could be needed to confirm Julie Su, Biden’s pick to replace Marty Walsh as Labor Secretary, as well as to help raise the nation’s debt ceiling in coming months.
A spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment about whether the Kentucky Republican would oppose replacing Feinstein. McConnell is a lead architect of the judiciary’s move to the right, spearheading efforts to install Donald Trump’s picks for federal judgeships when he was president.
Joni Ernst of Iowa and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, junior members of McConnell’s leadership team, also said they wouldn’t support the move as they entered his office for a meeting Monday.
Feinstein is now the Senate’s longest-serving Democrat and its oldest member. In January, she passed on a chance to serve this session of Congress as the Senate’s president pro tempore, a job that typically goes to the majority party’s most senior member. Instead, Senator Patty Murray of Washington rose to the post, which is third in line for the presidency.
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