Dianne Feinstein Faces Resign Calls After Missing 60 Senate Votes in 2023

California Senator Dianne Feinstein is facing calls to resign as her ill health has seen her miss around three-quarters of all Senate votes this year, impacting President Joe Biden's judicial nominees.

Feinstein, 89, is recovering after being hospitalized with shingles in early March. Before she became ill with the painful but non life-threatening condition in February, the Democrat had missed two Senate votes in 2023.

Feinstein has not returned to Washington D.C. as she recovers at her San Francisco home. Since March 7, Feinstein has missed a further 58 Senate votes, meaning she has failed to vote in 60 votes of the 82 Senate votes taken in 2023 so far.

Feinstein is a member of the key Senate Judiciary Committee that considers nominations to the federal courts, including the Supreme Court, as well as some government appointments.

Concerns about whether Feinstein is able to serve in her role have mounted for the past few weeks. The veteran lawmaker's illness coincided with Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania seeking treatment for depression, meaning the Democratic Party, which holds a 51-49 party split in the upper chamber, has struggled to pass legislation and other measures.

Fetterman, who is not a member of the Judiciary Committee but still missed Senate votes during his absence, is slated to return to office in the week of April 17 after the current recess ends. Feinstein's potential return to D.C. is still unclear.

As noted by the San Francisco Chronicle, Vice President Kamala Harris has had to cast three tie-breaking votes this year in her role as president of the Senate as a result of Feinstein's and Fetterman's absences.

There are now calls from Democratic figures for Feinstein to resign from office while noting her absence is preventing the Senate from confirming justices.

Of the 58 votes Feinstein has missed while ill, 25 were for judicial nominees and and 13 were for executive branch nominees.

On Monday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick 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."

Jon Lovett, Crooked Media co-founder and ex-speechwriter for former President Barack Obama, noted Durbin's comments while suggesting Feinstein resigns.

"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 Pod Save America podcast.

"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.

"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 added.

"Dianne Feinstein should no longer be in the Senate. She should resign and more people should be calling on her to resign."

Feinstein, who was first elected to the Senate in 1992, confirmed she will not run again in 2024 but intends to see out the remainder of her term, meaning she could potentially remain in office until January 2025.

Jon Cooper, a prominent Obama fundraiser and former National Finance Chair of Draft Biden 2016, called on Feinstein to resign from office before the Senate returns next week.

"Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who was hospitalized in early March for shingles and has remained in her San Francisco home since March 7th, has missed 60 of the 82 votes taken in the Senate so far this year," Cooper tweeted.

"The Senate, which has been on recess since March 31st, is preparing to return on April 17th. Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin says that Feinstein's absence will seriously impede Democrats' ability to confirm President Biden's judicial nominees.

"With all due respect, Feinstein needs to resign immediately—or at least she should be replaced on the Judiciary Committee by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer," Cooper added.

While sharing a Jezebel article detailing how Feinstein is holding up judicial nominations, the website's editor in chief Laura Bassett tweeted the senator "needs to resign right now, not retire after the term."

In a statement to the Chronicle, Feinstein's spokesperson Adam Russell said she "continues to work from home in San Francisco as she recuperates."

Feinstein's office has been contacted for further comment via email.