Under pressure to resign from the position she held for more than 30 years, Senator Dianne Feinstein She announced Thursday that she wants to temporarily step down from an important Senate committee due to continued ill health.
The 89-year-old Democrat, the oldest member of Congress, has been away from the Senate since February due to his shingles diagnosis, missing about 58 votes.
A spokesman for Senator L San Francisco Chronicle This week she was working at home while recovering from the virus.
But with the Senate reconvening on Monday after a two-week recess, there were concerns that her continued absence could bring work to a halt on the Judiciary Committee, on which she is a member.
after Losing control of the House of Representatives by a narrow margin Against the Republicans in the midterm elections last year, President Joe Biden He has been under pressure to continue using Democrats’ Senate majority to pursue confirmation As many federal judges as possible.
Due to Democrats’ narrow majority, the committee has not voted on any new nominees for the federal seat since February 16. Under current rules, a tie vote in committee means a nominee cannot advance to a vote in the full Senate.
Sen. Dick Durbin, the Illinois Democrat who became chairman of the Judiciary Committee when… Feinstein abandoned the role After criticism from activists Politico Last month, he was “concerned” that they couldn’t move forward with new nominees without Feinstein’s return.
In a statement Late Wednesday, Feinstein said she had expected to return to work by the end of March, but “ongoing complications” had prevented that.
“I intend to return as soon as possible as soon as my medical team advises that it is safe for me to travel,” she said in the statement. “In the meantime, I will remain committed to the job and continue to work from home in San Francisco.”
Feinstein admitted that her absence was complicating matters for her colleagues, and said that she had asked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to appoint another Democrat to the committee temporarily.