The death of Sen. Dianne Feinstein places Gov. Gavin Newsom under intense pressure to quickly name a replacement as a bitterly divided Congress votes on a spending plan in the coming hours to avert a government shutdown.
Newsom had hoped to avoid the politically charged decision of selecting a second senator. But he will need to move swiftly as a budget standoff has the government on the verge of shutting down, and Senate Democrats could need every vote. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) affirmed on Friday that the fast-moving political situation creates an imperative for Newsom to make a difficult decision quickly.
“He, you know, wants to be respectful and not name somebody while folks are still grappling with their grief,” Kaine said, but “we cannot afford to be one down. We really can’t.”
The timing of Feinstein’s death — four months before a primary but more than a year before the end of her term — complicates this election cycle. Staff at the California secretary of state’s office was huddling early Friday morning to determine the timelines that would govern an appointment or a possible special election.
She deserves as much empathy as she offered up when she gave the middle finger to a classroom full of children asking to not be sentenced to cook to death.
Idk if she had redeeming qualities at some point in her life, but she cast those aside in order to cling to power, and eventually died a monster.
She doesn’t get bonus points for being blue, human or dead - her actions are what matters, and based on those, the world became a slightly better place when she passed.
I’ll sing the exact same song when Moscow Mitch finally bites the dust, and every other power-hungry obstructionist squatting in what could otherwise be a useful office.