Women in the Senate remember Feinstein as a "trailblazing titan"
Women in the Senate are paying tribute to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the longest-serving female senator in history, following her death at age 90.
Feinstein broke a series of glass ceilings throughout her life. She was a fixture of California politics for decades and was first elected to the US Senate in 1992 after a historic political career in San Francisco.
Sen. Katie Britt, a Republican from Alabama, noted that Feinstein created a "path for women in the Senate and girls across our nation."
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York, said Feinstein was a leader for women's rights.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, said that despite their political differences, she enjoyed working with Feinstein on some bipartisan issues.
Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, called the late senator a "good friend."
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an Independent from Arizona, called Feinstein a "titan in the U.S. Senate."
4 min ago
Feinstein's Senate desk to be draped in black, per tradition
From CNN's Kristin Wilson
Sen. Dianne Feinstein‘s desk in the Senate chamber has been draped in a black cloth with a vase of white flowers, according to tradition.
1 min ago
Feinstein led efforts on gun control and torture program investigations
From CNN's Lauren Fox, Manu Raju, Haley Talbot, Clare Foran and Paul LeBlanc
In this 2003 photo, Sen. Diane Feinstein holds AK-47 assault rifle during appearance with California Gov. Gray Davis and police chiefs from around the state to urge Congress to reauthorize the assault weapons ban signed into law in 1994. Bob Chamberlin/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
Though she was a proud native of one of the most famously liberal cities in the country, Sen. Dianne Feinstein earned a reputation over the years in the Senate as someone eager to work across the aisle with Republicans and at times sparked pushback and criticism from progressives.
“I truly believe that there is a center in the political spectrum that is the best place to run something when you have a very diverse community. America is diverse; we are not all one people. We are many different colors, religions, backgrounds, education levels, all of it,” she told CNN in 2017.
A biography from Feinstein’s Senate office states her notable achievements include “the enactment of the federal Assault Weapons Ban in 1994, a law that prohibited the sale, manufacture and import of military-style assault weapons” (the ban has since lapsed), and the influential 2014 torture report, a comprehensive “six-year review of the CIA’s detention and interrogation program,” which brought to light for the first time many details from the George W. Bush-era program.
Feinstein’s high-profile Senate career made its mark on pop culture when she was portrayed by actress Annette Bening in the 2019 film “The Report,” which tackled the subject of the CIA’s use of torture after the Sept. 11 attacks and the effort to make those practices public.
In November 2020, Feinstein announced she would step down from the top Democratic spot on the Senate Judiciary Committee the following year in the wake of sharp criticism from liberal activists over her handling of the hearings for then-President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.
While Democratic senators could not block Barrett’s nomination in the Republican-led Senate on their own, liberal activists were angry when Feinstein undermined Democrats’ relentless attempt to portray the process as illegitimate when she praised then-Judiciary Chair and South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham’s leadership of it.
Feinstein said at the time that she would continue to serve as a senior Democrat on the Judiciary, Intelligence, Appropriations and Rules and Administration panels, working on priorities like gun safety, criminal justice and immigration.
7 min ago
Feinstein opened paths for women in politics, Hillary Clinton says
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid a tribute to Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, saying the California lawmaker "blazed trails for women in politics and found a life's calling in public service."
In her social media post, Clinton said she'll miss Feinstein greatly.
10 min ago
Schumer says it's "a very sad day" after Feinstein’s death
From CNN's Morgan Rimmer
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks to members of the press during a news briefing after a weekly Senate Democratic policy luncheon at the Capitol on September 27, 2023 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty Images
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer reacted to the news of Sen. Dianne Feinstein's death Friday, saying it was "a very, very sad day for all of us."
When he was entering the Capitol, Schumer told CNN that he was planning to speak on the Senate floor shortly.
Feinstein was the longest-serving female senator in history.
19 min ago
Trailblazing Feinstein had many firsts during her career
From CNN's Lauren Fox, Manu Raju, Haley Talbot, Clare Foran and Paul LeBlanc
In this June 1974 photo, then-San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Dianne Feinstein attends an event in San Francisco. Janet Fries/Getty Images
Feinstein was born in San Francisco in 1933 and graduated from Stanford University in 1955. After serving as a San Francisco County supervisor, Feinstein became the city’s mayor in 1978 in the wake of the assassination of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay politician from California to be elected to office.
Feinstein rarely talked about the day when Moscone and Milk were shot but she opened up about the tragic events in a 2017 interview with CNN’s Dana Bash.
Feinstein was on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors then, and assassin Dan White had been a friend and colleague of hers.
“The door to the office opened, and he came in, and I said, ‘Dan?’ ” “I heard the doors slam, I heard the shots, I smelled the cordite,” Feinstein recalled.
It was Feinstein who announced the double assassination to the public. She was later sworn in as the first female mayor of San Francisco.
Her political career was marked by a series of historic firsts.
By that time she became mayor in 1978, she had already broken one glass ceiling, becoming the first female chair of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
California’s first woman sent to the US Senate racked up many other firsts in Washington. Among those: She was the first woman to sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, the first female chairwoman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, and the first female chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Feinstein also served on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee and held the title of ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee from 2017 to 2021. In November 2022, she was poised to become president pro tempore of the Senate – third in line to the presidency – but declined to pursue the position, citing her husband’s recent death.
Feinstein reflected on her experience as a woman in politics in her 2017 interview with Bash, saying, “Look, being a woman in our society even today is difficult,” and noting, “I know it in the political area.” She would later note in a statement the week she became the longest-serving woman in US history, “We went from two women senators when I ran for office in 1992 to 24 today – and I know that number will keep climbing.”
“It has been a great pleasure to watch more and more women walk the halls of the Senate,” Feinstein said in November 2022.
20 min ago
Sen. Feinstein's last vote was yesterday morning
From CNN's Morgan Rimmer
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein's last vote in the Senate was Thursday morning — a procedural vote for short-term government funding.
She did not vote during either afternoon vote.
30 min ago
"Heartbroken this morning": How US senators are reacting to Feinstein's death
Members of the US Senate are remembering Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein with tributes to her on social media, remembering the late senator as a trailblazer and an advocate for her home state of California.
Feinstein, the longest-serving female senator in history, died at 90, according to a source.
Here's a look at some of reactions from senators:
Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina
Sen. Bill Hagerty, a Republican from Tennessee
Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia
Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican from Florida
Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon
Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida
29 min ago
Sen. Dianne Feinstein has died, according to a source
From CNN's Lauren Fox, Manu Raju and Haley Talbot
Sen. Dianne Feinstein attends a Senate Judiciary Business Meeting at the Senate Dirksen Office Building on Capitol Hill on Thursday, May 18, 2023 in Washington, DC. Kent Nishimura/The Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the longest-serving female senator in history, has died, according to a source familiar. She was 90.
Her death will hand California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom the power to appoint a lawmaker to serve out the rest of Feinstein's term, keeping the Democratic majority in the chamber through early January 2025. In March 2021, Newsom publicly said he had a list of "multiple" replacements and pledged to appoint a Black woman if Feinstein were to retire.
Feinstein, a Democrat, was a fixture of California politics for decades and was first elected to the US Senate in 1992 after a historic political career in San Francisco.
Feinstein broke a series of glass ceilings throughout her life, and left her fingerprints on some of Capitol Hill's most consequential works in recent history, including the since-lapsed federal assault weapons ban in 1994 and the 2014 CIA torture report.
In her later years, the California Democrat's health was the subject of increasing scrutiny and speculation. A hospitalization for shingles in February led to an extended absence from the Senate, stirring complaints from Democrats, as Feinstein's time away slowed the confirmation of Democratic-appointed judicial nominees.
When she returned to Capitol Hill three months later, it was revealed that she had suffered multiple complications during her recovery, including Ramsay Hunt syndrome and encephalitis. A fall in August briefly sent her to the hospital.
In February 2023, she confirmed that she would not run for reelection, telling CNN, "The time has come."
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the longest-serving female senator in history, has died, according to a source.
Feinstein, 90, broke a series of glass ceilings throughout her life. She was a fixture of California politics for decades and was first elected to the US Senate in 1992 after a historic political career in San Francisco.
Feinstein’s death will hand California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom the power to appoint a lawmaker to serve out the rest of her term, keeping the Democratic majority in the chamber through early January 2025.
Women in the Senate are paying tribute to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the longest-serving female senator in history, following her death at age 90.
Feinstein broke a series of glass ceilings throughout her life. She was a fixture of California politics for decades and was first elected to the US Senate in 1992 after a historic political career in San Francisco.
Sen. Katie Britt, a Republican from Alabama, noted that Feinstein created a "path for women in the Senate and girls across our nation."
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York, said Feinstein was a leader for women's rights.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, said that despite their political differences, she enjoyed working with Feinstein on some bipartisan issues.
Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, called the late senator a "good friend."
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an Independent from Arizona, called Feinstein a "titan in the U.S. Senate."
Sen. Dianne Feinstein‘s desk in the Senate chamber has been draped in a black cloth with a vase of white flowers, according to tradition.
In this 2003 photo, Sen. Diane Feinstein holds AK-47 assault rifle during appearance with California Gov. Gray Davis and police chiefs from around the state to urge Congress to reauthorize the assault weapons ban signed into law in 1994. Bob Chamberlin/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
Though she was a proud native of one of the most famously liberal cities in the country, Sen. Dianne Feinstein earned a reputation over the years in the Senate as someone eager to work across the aisle with Republicans and at times sparked pushback and criticism from progressives.
“I truly believe that there is a center in the political spectrum that is the best place to run something when you have a very diverse community. America is diverse; we are not all one people. We are many different colors, religions, backgrounds, education levels, all of it,” she told CNN in 2017.
A biography from Feinstein’s Senate office states her notable achievements include “the enactment of the federal Assault Weapons Ban in 1994, a law that prohibited the sale, manufacture and import of military-style assault weapons” (the ban has since lapsed), and the influential 2014 torture report, a comprehensive “six-year review of the CIA’s detention and interrogation program,” which brought to light for the first time many details from the George W. Bush-era program.
Feinstein’s high-profile Senate career made its mark on pop culture when she was portrayed by actress Annette Bening in the 2019 film “The Report,” which tackled the subject of the CIA’s use of torture after the Sept. 11 attacks and the effort to make those practices public.
In November 2020, Feinstein announced she would step down from the top Democratic spot on the Senate Judiciary Committee the following year in the wake of sharp criticism from liberal activists over her handling of the hearings for then-President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.
While Democratic senators could not block Barrett’s nomination in the Republican-led Senate on their own, liberal activists were angry when Feinstein undermined Democrats’ relentless attempt to portray the process as illegitimate when she praised then-Judiciary Chair and South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham’s leadership of it.
Feinstein said at the time that she would continue to serve as a senior Democrat on the Judiciary, Intelligence, Appropriations and Rules and Administration panels, working on priorities like gun safety, criminal justice and immigration.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid a tribute to Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, saying the California lawmaker "blazed trails for women in politics and found a life's calling in public service."
In her social media post, Clinton said she'll miss Feinstein greatly.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks to members of the press during a news briefing after a weekly Senate Democratic policy luncheon at the Capitol on September 27, 2023 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty Images
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer reacted to the news of Sen. Dianne Feinstein's death Friday, saying it was "a very, very sad day for all of us."
When he was entering the Capitol, Schumer told CNN that he was planning to speak on the Senate floor shortly.
Feinstein was the longest-serving female senator in history.
In this June 1974 photo, then-San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Dianne Feinstein attends an event in San Francisco. Janet Fries/Getty Images
Feinstein was born in San Francisco in 1933 and graduated from Stanford University in 1955. After serving as a San Francisco County supervisor, Feinstein became the city’s mayor in 1978 in the wake of the assassination of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay politician from California to be elected to office.
Feinstein rarely talked about the day when Moscone and Milk were shot but she opened up about the tragic events in a 2017 interview with CNN’s Dana Bash.
Feinstein was on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors then, and assassin Dan White had been a friend and colleague of hers.
“The door to the office opened, and he came in, and I said, ‘Dan?’ ” “I heard the doors slam, I heard the shots, I smelled the cordite,” Feinstein recalled.
It was Feinstein who announced the double assassination to the public. She was later sworn in as the first female mayor of San Francisco.
Her political career was marked by a series of historic firsts.
By that time she became mayor in 1978, she had already broken one glass ceiling, becoming the first female chair of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
California’s first woman sent to the US Senate racked up many other firsts in Washington. Among those: She was the first woman to sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, the first female chairwoman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, and the first female chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Feinstein also served on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee and held the title of ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee from 2017 to 2021. In November 2022, she was poised to become president pro tempore of the Senate – third in line to the presidency – but declined to pursue the position, citing her husband’s recent death.
Feinstein reflected on her experience as a woman in politics in her 2017 interview with Bash, saying, “Look, being a woman in our society even today is difficult,” and noting, “I know it in the political area.” She would later note in a statement the week she became the longest-serving woman in US history, “We went from two women senators when I ran for office in 1992 to 24 today – and I know that number will keep climbing.”
“It has been a great pleasure to watch more and more women walk the halls of the Senate,” Feinstein said in November 2022.
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein's last vote in the Senate was Thursday morning — a procedural vote for short-term government funding.
She did not vote during either afternoon vote.
Members of the US Senate are remembering Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein with tributes to her on social media, remembering the late senator as a trailblazer and an advocate for her home state of California.
Feinstein, the longest-serving female senator in history, died at 90, according to a source.
Here's a look at some of reactions from senators:
Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina
Sen. Bill Hagerty, a Republican from Tennessee
Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia
Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican from Florida
Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon
Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida
Sen. Dianne Feinstein attends a Senate Judiciary Business Meeting at the Senate Dirksen Office Building on Capitol Hill on Thursday, May 18, 2023 in Washington, DC. Kent Nishimura/The Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the longest-serving female senator in history, has died, according to a source familiar. She was 90.
Her death will hand California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom the power to appoint a lawmaker to serve out the rest of Feinstein's term, keeping the Democratic majority in the chamber through early January 2025. In March 2021, Newsom publicly said he had a list of "multiple" replacements and pledged to appoint a Black woman if Feinstein were to retire.
Feinstein, a Democrat, was a fixture of California politics for decades and was first elected to the US Senate in 1992 after a historic political career in San Francisco.
Feinstein broke a series of glass ceilings throughout her life, and left her fingerprints on some of Capitol Hill's most consequential works in recent history, including the since-lapsed federal assault weapons ban in 1994 and the 2014 CIA torture report.
In her later years, the California Democrat's health was the subject of increasing scrutiny and speculation. A hospitalization for shingles in February led to an extended absence from the Senate, stirring complaints from Democrats, as Feinstein's time away slowed the confirmation of Democratic-appointed judicial nominees.
When she returned to Capitol Hill three months later, it was revealed that she had suffered multiple complications during her recovery, including Ramsay Hunt syndrome and encephalitis. A fall in August briefly sent her to the hospital.
In February 2023, she confirmed that she would not run for reelection, telling CNN, "The time has come."
