After being absent from the Senate for months now, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) issued a statement on Thursday night that not only makes it clear she's not resigning, but rebuts the Democratic Party's narrative on confirming Biden's judicial nominees.
This includes the confirmation of Judge Wesley Hsu to the Central District of California. He will make an outstanding jurist and I’m proud to see him join the federal bench. pic.twitter.com/LZNYHuB6tU
— Senator Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) May 4, 2023
While the Senate Judiciary Committee has advanced eight strong nominees during my absence, I’m disappointed that Republicans are blocking a few in committee. I’m confident that when I return, we will be able to move the remaining qualified nominees to the Senate floor for a vote.
— Senator Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) May 4, 2023
Right from the start, the statement was clear cut in shutting down any of this hysterical hand wringing that is coming not just from the mainstream media, but from Feinstein's fellow Democrats. "There has been no slowdown," the statement affirms. Such a narrative--a true one--has also been shared by Feinstein's Republican colleagues, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
Given that Feinstein is a Democrat, she does still call out the other party, in that she's "disappointed that Republicans are blocking a few in the [Senate Judiciary] committee." But then what she said next stuck it even more deeply to her fellow Democrats. "I’m confident that when I return, we will be able to move the remaining qualified nominees to the Senate floor for a vote." The very key word there is "when," not "if."
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While Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) does not appear to have any further specifics to offer, he was spotted with notes at a press conference on Tuesday indicating he's "hopeful" that Feinstein will return "next week."
Feinstein's statement includes factual numbers, such as how the committee advanced eight judicial nominees in her absence. The Senate has confirmed seven federal judicial nominees, including in Feinstein's own state, with Judge Wesley Hsu for the Central District of California.
It also included a background on "the status of every federal district or circuit court nominee in the Senate during Senator Feinstein’s absence," and a fact-check on five claims to do with how judicial nominees have been affected by Feinstein's absence.
In addressing one of them, the statement also reminds that, even without Feinstein, Democrats still have a majority. They actually grew their majority after the 2022 midterms, since retiring former Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican from Pennsylvania, was replaced by Democrat John Fetterman.
"Democrats maintain a 50-49 majority on the floor and are able to continue confirming judges with or without bipartisan support. During the last Congress, the Senate confirmed 97 judges while the Senate was split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans," one bullet point reads.
When it comes to claims about "a large backlog of nominees who are unable to advance out of the Senate Judiciary Committee due to Senator Feinstein’s absence," the statement mentions that "Only four district or circuit court nominees are currently eligible for a vote in committee," with one bullet point also reminding that "Senator Feinstein’s absence does not prevent the committee from holding a hearing on any nominees."
Finally, when it comes to claims that the Senate is not moving judicial nominees fast enough, another bullet point points out that "If the Senate did nothing but confirm judicial nominees, it would likely take at least three weeks of floor time to confirm all of the judicial nominees currently pending on the floor."
Chief among those calling on Feinstein to resign has been Rep. Ro Khanna, a fellow Democrat also from California. Although as of Thursday night he had not referenced Feinstein's statement from his Twitter account, he did retweet independent journalist Brian Krassenstein quoting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who just recently joined other Democratic members--mostly men--in calling on Feinstein to resign.
According to Krassenstein the congresswoman opined that Feinstein "should retire. I think criticisms of that stance as 'anti-feminist' are a farce. Her refusal to either retire or show up is causing great harm to the judiciary--precisely where reproduction rights are getting stripped. That failure means now in this precious window Dems can only pass GOP-approved nominees." Krassenstein indicated he agreed with AOC.
The 89-year-old senator has been absent due to a diagnosis of shingles and complications.
Both Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ro Khanna are calling for the resignation of Senator Dianne Feinstein:@AOC stated:
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) May 4, 2023
"[Dianne Feinstein] should retire. I think criticisms of that stance as 'anti-feminist' are a farce. Her refusal to either retire or show up is causing great… pic.twitter.com/zEVcMc28n2
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