CNN anchor Jake Tapper pressed Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Sunday to say whether Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) should resign from office — comparing the potential consequences of the 89-year-old senator not stepping down to the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, which led to the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority.

“At what point do the tens of millions of voters currently lacking full representation in the Senate from California — at what point do they matter more than the feelings of a colleague whose health has been in question for a long time?” Tapper asked Durbin on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“I can just tell you that Senator Feinstein is my friend and my colleague of many years,” answered Durbin, 78. “She’s gone through an awful lot. She lost her husband last year, and she’s had some real medical issues that are problematic for her at her age at this point. I hope she returns, and I hope it’s this week.”

Durbin pointed out that without Feinstein the Judiciary Committee would be unable to subpoena figures such as Harlan Crow and Leonard Leo, who reportedly have given gifts over the years to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and helped pay for housing, tuition and other expenses for some members of the justice’s family.

“I hope she does what is best for her and her family and the state of California and makes a decision soon as to whether she is coming back,” Durbin added.

“How’d that work out for you? How’d that work out for Roe v. Wade?” CNN anchor Jake Tapper asked Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on “State of the Union.”CNN

“I mean, all due respect, sir,” Tapper replied, “you and your fellow Democrats were very ginger and very polite when it came to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and not pushing her to retire when you had a Democratic majority in the Senate. How’d that work out for you? How’d that work out for Roe v. Wade?”

Ginsburg died in September 2020 of metastatic pancreas cancer at age 87, allowing former President Donald Trump to nominate a third conservative justice, Amy Coney Barrett, to the high court before he lost the 2020 election.

“Well, I can tell you that you can play these out and try to guess what the court opinions resulting from it will be,” Durbin responded. “The bottom line is, though, we have in the past had members of the Senate — I can think of a handful as I sit here, Democrats and Republicans — who have been absent because of medical conditions for lengthy periods of time.

Tapper pushed the Senate Judiciary chairman to say whether Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) should resign from office.REUTERS

“I want to treat Dianne Feinstein fairly. I want to be sensitive to her family situation and her personal situation. I don’t want to say that she is going to be put under more pressure than others have in the past, but the bottom line is, the business of the committee and of the Senate is affected by her absence.”

A spokesman for Feinstein hasn’t said when the California senator plans to return to her post, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) expressed last week he was “hopeful” to have her back this week after her recovery from shingles.

Durbin said Friday that the Senate was “going to keep confirming highly qualified, diverse candidates to these lifetime appointments” despite Feinstein’s absence.

Last week, Senate Democrats confirmed seven judges to lifetime appointments on the federal bench, amounting to 126 total judicial confirmations under President Biden.AP

Last week, Senate Democrats confirmed seven more judges, bringing the total to 126 during the Biden administration.

Senate Republicans have resisted Democratic attempts to temporarily replace Feinstein on the Judiciary Committee, with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) saying last month such a move would only “force through their very worst nominees.”

“At what point do the tens of millions of voters … matter more than the feelings of a colleague whose health has been in question for a long time?” Tapper questioned.Getty Images

Durbin has also caught flak for abiding by the committee’s “blue slip” process, which critics say unreasonably delays judicial appointments until both home-state senators sign off on a judge.

Feinstein was briefly hospitalized for her case of shingles in February — the same month she announced that she would not seek re-election in 2024.

Before her diagnosis, she was dogged by reports that her mental faculties were slipping, causing her to forget names and faces of longtime colleagues and former aides.

Durbin has also caught flak for abiding by the committee’s “blue slip” process, which critics say unreasonably delays judicial appointments until home-state senators sign off on a judge.AP

A spokesman for Feinstein won’t say when the California senator plans to return to her post.AP

Her absence only intensified calls for her to resign, with House Democrats like Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) saying she was stopping the party from being able to confirm its judges to the federal bench.

In 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom promised to seat a black woman in Feinstein’s place if the senator retired.

Source link: https://nypost.com/2023/05/08/cnns-jake-tapper-pushes-dick-durbin-on-feinstein-absence/