Republicans line up against replacing Feinstein on critical committee

Senate Republicans are preparing to stop a temporary replacement for the ailing Dianne Feinstein on the Judiciary Committee this week, a move with significant ramifications for Democrats’ ability to confirm federal judges.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday afternoon that he wants to quickly sub in another senator for Feinstein (D-Calif.), whose absence from the Judiciary panel is hampering Democrats’ ability to easily confirm more of President Joe Biden’s nominees to the federal bench. But just one Republican can object to executing that move quickly, and the GOP opposition is overflowing.

Praising Feinstein as a “trailblazing” senator, moderate Maine Republican Susan Collins said that “during the past two years, it has become crystal clear that there has been a concerted campaign to force her off the Judiciary Committee, and I will have no part in it.”

Schumer said he is angling to have a conversation with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell about the matter soon — but over the course of Monday, deal-making GOP senators from Collins to Bill Cassidy (R-La.) to Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). lined up in opposition to temporarily replacing Feinstein on the panel.

Republicans’ blockade of the resolution to replace Feinstein will effectively make it tougher for Democrats to confirm more judges — which Biden’s party can normally do unilaterally with a 51-49 majority. The judiciary panel’s chair, Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), has repeatedly delayed committee votes on lifetime appointees during Feinstein’s treatment for shingles. Democrats still have some judicial nominees ready for floor votes, but that list will run dry relatively soon without action at the Judiciary Committee.

Schumer said he expects Feinstein to return to the Senate soon and that “We think the Republicans should allow a temporary replacement till she returns. I hope the Republicans will join us in making sure this happens, since it is the only right and fair thing to do.”

But if her absence continues, the pressure on her to resign her seat will rise exponentially, given how high judges are on her party’s priority list.

“I’m sure we’re going to be talking about this as a caucus this week,” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.). “These are the kinds of discussions where you really kind of have to get in the room to think it through. We haven’t started those discussions yet.”

Reshuffling the panel’s roster this week would require unanimous consent from all senators, which means just one Republican could block it. And the Judiciary Committee members opposing a Feinstein replacement on Monday included Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Tillis. All cited Democrats’ goal of confirming liberal judicial nominees.

Cornyn said, “Republicans are not going to break this precedent in order to bail out Sen. Schumer or the Biden administration’s most controversial nominees.”

McConnell hasn't made a statement on Feinstein yet, but comments from Collins and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) made it even more clear the temporary replacement that the 89-year-old senator sought is a dead end for Democrats.

As Murkowski put it: “We need to respect not only Senator Feinstein, but also our protocols here in the Senate.”

Republicans also noted that Democrats were only maneuvering to replace her on the Judiciary panel, not her other committee assignments. Summing up his party’s position, Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said that “you’re starting to get a flavor that, certainly from Democrats’ standpoint, this is not going to be a slam dunk.”

“The Dems are sort of using this because they want pressure on her to resign. And I think this gives them sort of a lever to do that,” Thune added of Feinstein.

Democrats still haven’t even picked a potential Feinstein replacement. Schumer said he needs to talk to the caucus about who would take her spot on the Judiciary panel, which she was once in line to chair. Durbin said the choice is up to Schumer, but that he’ll be giving recommendations.

With Feinstein absent — and her timetable to ever return to Washington increasingly uncertain — the committee is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. That means judicial nominees without bipartisan support cannot come to the Senate floor without laborious procedural votes to shake them loose. Even then, those votes would face a 60-senator threshold.

And the stakes are extra-high now: Confirming judges is one of the top Senate Democratic priorities given GOP control of the House.

“Tomorrow, this could happen to the Republicans and they could find themselves in a vulnerable position through no fault of their own,” Durbin said Monday. “And I hope that they’ll show a little kindness and caring for their colleagues.”

Feinstein rejected any talk of resigning in a statement last week, asking that she be removed from the committee until she returns to the Senate in order to allow Judiciary’s work to continue.

There is little recent precedent in the Senate to make a temporary replacement on a committee roster, since changes are usually triggered by a lawmaker leaving the chamber entirely. Notably, Republicans said they would take a different approach if Democrats were seeking approval to seat a replacement California senator on committees, rather than a temporary swap for Feinstein.

Describing Feinstein as currently in “a delicate part of her life and her Senate service,” Durbin said Republicans should “stand by her and give her a dignified departure from the committee.”