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.
Same is true of lifetime Supreme Court appointments. Look at what Ginsburg’s poorly timed death did. Her legacy is permanently tarnished by allowing Trump of all people appoint her replacement.
Ginsburg no-doubt thought that Hillary Clinton would be there to do that, but how’d that work out? Roe vs Wade got overturned. Disgusting.
She should have retired before Obama left office.
Yes, but also they’d have blocked any nomination because of the republican-senate rule that you can’t hold hearings on a nomination during a Democrat administration.
She should have retired the moment he was re-elected; there would have been no way for the Republicans to have justified delaying hearings.