WASHINGTON — Dianne Feinstein, who has been absent from the U.S. Senate for weeks due to illness, needs to make a decision soon about her fate if she doesn’t recover enough to return for key votes in the closely divided chamber, Sen. Amy Klobuchar said.
“We are going to need her vote on the Senate floor eventually,” Klobuchar said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” Specifically, the Minnesota Democrat cited the debt ceiling crisis.
“If this goes on month after month after month, then she’s going to have to make a decision with her family and her friends about what her future holds because this isn’t just about California, it’s also about the nation,” she said.
Feinstein, 89, who’s not seeking reelection in 2024, was hospitalized earlier this year with shingles, according to her office. Her absence has concerned fellow Democrats, including Rep. Ro Khanna of California, who called for her to resign and said it “is obvious she can no longer fulfill her duties.”
With Democrats holding only a 51-49 Senate majority, Vice President Kamala Harris was twice called in for tie-breaking votes while both Feinstein and Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat suffering from depression following a stroke last year, were away.
Feinstein decided last week to step off the Senate Judiciary Committee, asking Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to allow another caucus member to serve while she’s out. Her absence has eliminated the Democrats’ 11-10 majority on the panel and slowed consideration of judicial nominees.
Klobuchar said Feinstein “did the right thing,” to step off the committee in the short term.
“I think what we need to do is take her at her word,” she said. “Right now she says she’s going to return. Let’s make sure that happens. And it sure better happen before the debt-ceiling vote.”
The debt ceiling’s so-called “X-date” is expected to be reached around mid-August, and a U.S. debt default would send shock waves through the world economy. A plan to suspend the debt ceiling for a year is set to be unveiled this week by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat from Wisconsin, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” she’s glad Feinstein stepped off the Judiciary Committee. Resigning, however, should be her choice.
“It’s up to Dianne Feinstein and her family to decide whether she wants to keep on serving. And she’s had a remarkable record,” Baldwin said.
Feinstein isn’t the only senator to be out in recent weeks. Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he’ll return to the Senate on Monday, his first appearance in the Capitol since he suffered a concussion and broken rib in a fall last month at a fundraiser in Washington.
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand dismissed calls for Feinstein’s resignation, telling CNN’s “State of the Union” that “we’ve had so many senators who have had illnesses.”
“They all deserve a chance to get better and come back to work,” she said.
Calling Feinstein a mentor, role model and “extraordinary senator,” Gillibrand also voiced confidence in her return.
“Dianne will get better, she will come back to work.”
Three members of the California delegation, Democrats Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee have already announced they will seek Feinstein’s seat in 2024.
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(With assistance from Ian Fisher.)
