Dianne Feinstein: Why some Democrats want one of their own to resign

The longest serving woman senator in US history has already decided not to run again in 2024. But some Democrats now want her to resign immediately due to her age and poor health. 

It is not the first time she has received such calls. But, California political observers say, this time feels different. 

The newly heated debate around her tenure has pitted Democrats against each other as well as against Ms Feinstein, and the outcome could have chaotic implications for her home state's political establishment.

"In the past it was more about general performance - is she up to snuff, essentially - whereas this is I think more serious in some ways," said Eric Schickler, co-director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

Ms Feinstein has been absent from Washington DC for about two months, after being hospitalised for about a week with shingles in late February and early March. She sits on the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, which confirms the president's choices for federal judges - an urgent priority for Joe Biden and Democrats. 

But due to her absence, she cannot vote on a panel where Democrats only have a single-seat majority, potentially complicating the confirmation process. And this is causing a high-profile intra-party skirmish.

"This does feel different, because she's missing these votes and the Senate is so closely divided," said Mr Schickler. "It's actually having some impact on Democrats' ability to pursue their agenda, especially with respect to judges." 

Last week, members of her own party began to call on her to step down before her term ends.

"It's time for Senator Feinstein to resign," Ro Khanna, a left-wing Democrat from California, tweeted on 12 April.
 

Barbara Boxer, a former US senator from California who served with Ms Feinstein, told a local California news station: "Right now I'm very worried about her, and I'm worried about the Senate, and I think the moment has come where the senator herself has to look at reality."

Ms Feinstein says she plans to return and has asked for the Senate to temporarily replace her on the judiciary committee. But on Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell indicated that Republicans had no intention to allow such a change.

Why Democrats care about federal judges

Federal judges have the power to sway national politics and policy. Just recently, a conservative justice in Texas appointed by former President Donald Trump has thrown the approval for a commonly used abortion pill into question, in a case that could have enormous implications.

Senate Democrats have grown more proactive about appointing liberal-leaning federal judges to as many vacancies as possible, after Mr Trump reshaped America's judicial landscape by appointing hundreds of conservative judges to the bench. With another national election looming in 2024, Democrats feel they have limited time to confirm as many of Mr Biden's choices as possible - and some worry Ms Feinstein will hamper that goal.

Though the committee could still continue to confirm judicial nominees that garner bipartisan support - and Republicans could still block a replacement even if she does resign - Democrats are sounding the alarm.

The senator and her office maintain she will return to Washington when she's ready.

"I intend to return as soon as possible once my medical team advises that it's safe for me to travel," she said in a 12 April statement. 

"In the meantime, I remain committed to the job and will continue to work from home in San Francisco."

A debate over 'gerontocracy' 

For at least the last three years, Ms Feinstein has faced questions about her ability to perform her duties. She and her office have maintained her commitment to carrying out her role.

In 2020, the New Yorker reported that Ms Feinstein, who by then was well into her 80s, was dealing with cognitive issues potentially related to her age. The story struck a nerve in Washington, which was already reckoning with a class of aging political leaders that critics have dubbed a "gerontocracy". 
 

Her popularity among constituents has plummeted. Only 30% of California registered voters approved Ms Feinstein's performance, and 49% disapproved, according to a February 2022 poll from the University of California, Berkeley.

Now those doubts are getting louder.

"You're seeing people call on her to step down that you probably wouldn't have seen during her last election," said Roger Salazar, a California political strategist.

These demands have irked some of Ms Feinstein's peers. Fellow California lawmaker Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the US House of Representatives, implied the calls for Ms Feinstein to resign were tinged with sexism.

"It's interesting to me. I don't know what political agendas are at work that are going after Sen Feinstein in that way. I've never seen them go after a man who was sick in the Senate in that way," she told reporters last week. 

A California conundrum

Back home in California, the question of Ms Feinstein's future has the potential to roil state politics. She is, effectively, the dean of the California delegation, who first rose to prominence as the mayor of San Francisco in the late 1970s before joining the Senate in 1992.
 

She has already announced she will not seek re-election in 2024. A field of high-profile Democratic representatives, including Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee, are all running to replace her.

Should Ms Feinstein leave office early, her longtime ally, Governor Gavin Newsom, would have to appoint a replacement to finish her term.

Mr Newsom had publicly pledged to appoint a black woman to fill the seat should a vacancy arise, and Ms Lee is one of a few high-profile lawmakers who fulfil that promise. 

"It would upend the whole Senate race," if Mr Newsom had to appoint a replacement for Ms Feinstein, said Steve Maviglio, a Democratic operative.

Though there was no consensus about what would happen next, California politicians doubted that a woman who has survived five decades in the public eye would disappear simply because a few members of her party have called for her to step away. 

"Feinstein's one of those warriors," said political strategist Mr Salazar. "She's not going to go until she's ready to go."