According to reports, Senator Dianne Feinstein is FINALLY returning to Congress’s upper chamber after being missing for months due to health issues.
As Politico reports, “Pressure had ramped up on the California Democrat to either return or resign, as the Senate Judiciary Committee struggled to clear certain judicial nominations and Democrats grew increasingly nervous about the looming debt fight.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said last week the country could breach the debt limit as soon as June 1.”
Many of her colleagues called for the California Democrat to resign from her seat in the Senate, as her continued absence continuously left Democrats without a majority, leaving the Senate Judiciary Committee deadlocked.
New York Times Reports:
Ms. Feinstein, 89, did not make it back in time for a vote scheduled for Tuesday night. But her return to the chamber will restore a Democratic majority to the Judiciary Committee, where Democrats were becoming increasingly concerned about their limited ability to move forward with judicial nominations.
Ms. Feinstein, who was hospitalized in February for shingles, for weeks gave no detailed updates about her health as she recovered in San Francisco, and provided no timeline for her planned return to work.
Her prolonged absence left her colleagues in the Senate fearing that they would be short a vote not only on the Judiciary Committee but also on other crucial matters.
“The bottom line is, the business of the committee and the Senate is affected by her absence,” Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
However, Feinstein argued that there had not been any “slowdown” of judicial confirmations during her absence, and maintained that she would return to the Senate to finish out her term.
Earlier this year, the Senator announced that she would not be seeking re-election in 2024.
