HEADACHE

Feinstein’s Many Senate Absences Are Holding Up Judicial Confirmations

The 89-year-old lawmaker has missed 60 of the 82 votes taken in the Senate so far in 2023.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) absence from the Senate is making life increasingly difficult for President Joe Biden. The 89-year-old has missed 60 of the 82 votes taken in the Senate so far in 2023, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. It’s gotten so bad that a number of top voices in the Democratic party are calling for Feinstein’s resignation, as her absence appears to be keeping the Senate from confirming Biden’s judicial picks. One of those voices is Jon Lovett, an ex-speechwriter for Barack Obama, who called for Feinstein’s resignation on Tuesday. “There’s been a lot of reporting about Dianne Feinstein no longer being fit to serve in the Senate representing the biggest state in this country,” Lovett said on his podcast, Pod Save America, Tuesday. “She is currently out for shingles. That is sad. That is obviously not her fault.” Feinstein was hospitalized for shingles in early March. She was released on March 7 to her home in San Francisco, where she has remained ever since.