Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Tuesday blocked an attempt to replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) on the Judiciary Committee while she recovers from a case of shingles.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) requested unanimous consent to place Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) on the panel temporarily, a request Feinstein made under pressure from progressives to step down from her seat.
MANCHIN WON'T SUPPORT TEMPORARY REPLACEMENT FOR FEINSTEIN ON JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
"Today, I am acting not just as leader but as Dianne's friend in honoring her wishes until she returns to the Senate," he said from the Senate floor. "When someone as dear and as accomplished as Sen. Feinstein asks us for something so important to her, we ought to respect it."
Graham objected to that request, essentially forcing Schumer to put the swap up for a vote that must garner the support of 60 senators in the upper chamber. The move all but dooms the proposal, which does not have the 10 Republican votes to overcome a filibuster.
Feinstein's absence — she has been recuperating at home in California — has been acutely felt on the Judiciary Committee, which is deadlocked 10-10 without her vote. The vacancy means the party can't advance President Joe Biden's judicial nominees without Republican support, prompting loud calls from liberal pundits for her to resign.
The push picked up momentum when a pair of House Democrats, Reps. Ro Khanna (CA) and Dean Phillips (MN), joined that chorus, seemingly prompting Feinstein to issue a statement reiterating she intends to return to Washington.
With the date of her return still unclear, Feinstein requested that she be removed temporarily from the Judiciary Committee. Republicans, balking at the idea of helping Democrats advance liberal judges, quickly lined up against the proposal, which Schumer agreed to put up for a vote.
Graham said he was objecting on Tuesday to keep unqualified nominees off the bench.
"With all due respect to my colleague, Sen. Schumer, this is about a handful of judges that you can't get the votes for, and I have been a pretty consistent vote in the Judiciary Committee in a bipartisan fashion," he said in brief remarks from the floor. "I understand that you won the election, we lost, and I want to make sure we process judges fairly. But the reason this is being made is to try to change the numbers on the committee in a way that I think would be harmful to the Senate."
Schumer, who spoke with Feinstein "a few days ago," said in a press conference earlier that day that he and Feinstein are "hopeful" she will return soon.
Senate Democrats have shown deference to the 89-year-old Feinstein, giving her space to recover and set her own time frame to return. But several senators, including Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), have suggested their well of patience will run out at some point.
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Khanna doubled down on the call for Feinstein to resign on Tuesday.
"Sen. Feinstein’s staff rushed out her statement two hours after my tweet to stop the bleeding and halt the growing chorus for her to resign. It worked for a few days but didn’t solve the problem as many of us had warned," he told NBC News. "The ball is now back in Sen. Feinstein’s court to provide a specific timeline of when she can cast votes on Judiciary to confirm President Biden’s judges."