Schumer unable to give updated time frame on Feinstein return amid judiciary paralysis
Emily Jacobs
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was not able to provide an updated time frame for Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) planned return from medical leave on Wednesday, more than a week after lawmakers came back from April recess.
Feinstein, the Senate’s oldest member at 89, has been absent from the chamber since being diagnosed with shingles in February. Democrats only control the chamber by a 51-49 margin, meaning that one absence gives Republicans an opportunity to block President Joe Biden’s nominees and legislative efforts. After years of criticisms from those in her party that she was no longer up to the job, Feinstein said at the time of her diagnosis that she wouldn’t seek reelection in 2024, though she vowed to serve out the remaining 20 months of her term.
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Tensions over Feinstein’s absence boiled over in mid-April as it became clear that she would not return at the conclusion of Senate recess, with two House Democrats, including one from her home state, calling for her resignation. The lawmakers, Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Dean Phillips (D-MN), said Tuesday in separate statements that while the longtime California lawmaker deserved praise for her storied political career, her health problems were affecting her ability to fulfill her duties.
Feinstein has faced questions about her mental acuity for nearly half a decade as story after story reported instances of her forgetting conversations with top lawmakers and staff. Some reports have described her not recognizing longtime colleagues that she had known for years. She revived those concerns when she appeared unaware that her office had sent out the press release announcing her Senate retirement.
Her absence has put the most strain on the Senate Judiciary Committee, a panel she led as the top Democrat until being pushed out in late 2020 after forgetting conversations she had with Schumer about her handling of then-Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearings. The panel has been essentially paralyzed as a result of Feinstein’s absence, which leaves Democrats without the necessary votes to advance most of Biden’s judicial nominees.
Asked if there were any updates on Feinstein’s condition, Schumer said Wednesday, “I spoke with Sen. Feinstein recently, and both she and I hope that she will be back very soon.”
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The answer was essentially the same as the one he gave last Tuesday when he said, “Look, I spoke to Sen. Feinstein just a few days ago, and she and I are both very hopeful that she will return very soon.”
Republicans blocked Schumer’s request to fill Feinstein’s Judiciary Committee seat with Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) last week, leaving Democrats in limbo until her still-unscheduled return.