Durbin rejects Feinstein’s assertion that her absence is not impacting Senate
Emily Jacobs
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Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) took issue on Sunday with Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) claim this week that her absence was not causing any delays in advancing President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda.
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 Senate by a 51-49 margin, meaning that one absence gives Republicans an opportunity to block 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.
FEINSTEIN HITS BACK AT CRITICISM OVER SENATE ABSENCE, PROVIDES NO TIMETABLE FOR RETURN
Tensions over Feinstein boiled over in mid-April as it became clear that she would not return at the conclusion of Senate recess, leading a number of House Democrats to start calling for her resignation. Her absence has put the most strain on the Senate Judiciary Committee. The panel has been essentially paralyzed without the California senator, which leaves Democrats without the necessary votes to advance most of Biden’s judicial nominees.
On Thursday, Feinstein released a statement rejecting the idea that her absence was causing any delay whatsoever in a rebuke of her colleagues’ concerns.
“The Senate continues to swiftly confirm highly qualified individuals to the federal judiciary, including seven more judicial nominees who were confirmed this week,” the statement read. “There has been no slowdown.”
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Acknowledging that Feinstein was a friend who had been through “an awful lot” since the death of her late husband, Richard Blum, last year, Durbin told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that her absence had made it “a challenge in the Senate Judiciary Committee to do our business.”
“I want to treat Dianne Feinstein fairly. I want to be sensitive to her family situation and her personal situation,” he told the network. “I don’t want to say that she’s going to be put under more pressure than others have been in the past. But the bottom line is, the business of the committee and of the Senate is affected by her absence.”