California

Senator Dianne Feinstein’s health problems threaten to jeopardize President Biden’s quest to reform the federal judiciary, but so far the White House has been willing to be patient.

“It’s her decision to make if it has anything to do with her future,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday. “It’s plain wrong to take partisan advantage of a colleague’s health problems.”

Republicans on Tuesday blocked a Democratic bid to temporarily replace Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee, where the absence of the Democrat’s casting vote has left some of Biden’s judicial nominees languishing. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (DN.Y.) could take the matter to a vote, but Democrats don’t have the 10 Republican votes needed to pass.

Democrats have few options but to wait for Feinstein to return, but when that is remains unclear, as she works from home in San Francisco. The dilemma has left Democrats divided on how to deal with the 89-year-old senator’s extended absence, which threatens to derail judicial nominations at a time when the party’s priorities, including abortion rights, are being challenged in federal courts.

Feinstein has not voted since February

.

16, and has missed about 60

I see “at least 60” in places now, so I think we could say “about 60” or say “at least 70% of the 82 votes” (the minimum she missed is 58, which is just more than 70% of 82.)

of the 82 votes that have been cast in the Senate so far this session. She announced in March that she had been hospitalized with shingles and last week said her return to Washington had been delayed due to related complications.

A few congressional Democrats, including Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont), have called for Feinstein to step aside. Co-Chair of Oakland Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee’s campaign to replace Feinstein, Khanna may have been the most vocal of the group, tweet last week that “not speaking up undermines our credibility as elected representatives of the people”.

For now, the White House has sided with most Democratic lawmakers, who believe Feinstein should be given time to decide whether she can serve out the remainder of her term, which ends in 2024. Senate President Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) said Democrats would try to give Feinstein a chance “to return as soon as possible,” while Schumer said he spoke to her last week and she hoped to return “soon.” to turn.

But that sentiment may change depending on the length of Feinstein’s absence and the major impact it has on the Senate’s ability to pursue the White House agenda. Biden has made it a priority to reshape the federal bench, both in the number and diversity of judges.

Democrats have confirmed the president’s judicial nominees in relatively fast clip, with 97 justices, including Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, on the federal bench during Biden’s first two years in office, and another 22 justices this year. Democrats have sought to outrank the 231 justices, including three Supreme Court justices, whom Senate Republicans have confirmed have important judicial vacancies under former President Trump.

Biden is unlikely to surpass his predecessor, according to Russell Wheeler, a Brookings Institution scholar who follows the judiciary. While Feinstein’s absence has slowed momentum, a lack of vacancies to fill will also make it difficult to keep up with Trump.

“It’s probably too early to worry too much about the problems created by Feinstein’s absence,” Wheeler said. “The bigger problem is that without a job opening, nobody’s going anywhere.”

While Republicans are unwilling to accede to Feinstein’s request to appoint a temporary replacement in her absence, GOP members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have agreed to move forward

when they meet Thursday

with nominees having bipartisan support, a Durbin spokesman said.

Discussions are ongoing about which nominees could be voted on, the spokesperson said, but about 10 are eligible.

According to the American Constitution Society, a progressive legal organization, there are 15 judicial nominees who have had hearings but are awaiting a committee vote. Eighteen judicial nominations have already had a panel vote and could be taken to the Senate floor for a full vote, and some could be approved without Feinstein.

But the episode isn’t the first Democrats have wrestled with regarding Feinstein, the party’s senior member and longest-serving woman in the Senate.

In recent years, she has faced increasing questions about her cognitive health, and in 2020 she resigned as the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee after being pressured to do so. As the oldest member of the Democratic Caucus, she also passed the role of Senate President pro tempore, which would have placed her third in the line of presidential succession.

Feinstein’s mental fitness and age are a politically sensitive topic for Biden, who, at 80, is the oldest president in the country and has faced questions about whether he should seek another term.

While in the Senate, he recruited Feinstein to the judicial panel, and the two former colleagues are old friends. She endorsed Biden over Vice President Kamala Harris as the then-junior California senator ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

But as the White House and Democrats continue to push for patience with Feinstein’s recovery, there has been speculation about what could happen if she chooses not to return. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vowed to nominate a black woman if there is a vacancy in the Senate.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who spent more than a decade in the House of Representatives, weighed in on a visit to Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

When asked if Newsom should keep his promise to appoint a black woman, Bass said, “That’s what he said. He promised.

As for Feinstein, Bass said, “I just hope she gets well soon. And of course we need her here so we can get those jurors up and running.”