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.
Many hospitals only have one surgeon for certain parts, a general surgeon probably can’t operate for complex heart surgery. And her not being replaced does stop the senate, without her the Democrats at best can break even on votes and with senama and mamchin willing to break party lines the republicans could do a lot of damage. Her holding power until she had to die makes her contribution null to me. I don’t have empathy for power hungry monsters. I would have if she left two elections ago. Thinking about it with mamchin and senima they could pass a budget that would end support of Ukraine which would kill thousands and all because this “human” wanted to stay in her position.