TIMES.KY

Cayman Islands, Caribbeanand International News
Saturday, May 27, 2023

Dianne Feinstein could be third in line to the presidency as Senate president pro tempore. She appears unaware that she's already declined the job.

Dianne Feinstein could be third in line to the presidency as Senate president pro tempore. She appears unaware that she's already declined the job.

"I guess it's out," the 89-year-old lawmaker told Insider, appearing unaware that her office had already said that she won't seek the position.
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California was poised to become president pro tempore of the Senate, according to long-standing Senate tradition.

As a result of her new status as the longest-serving Democratic senator, the 89-year-old lawmaker would have been third in line to the presidency, behind the vice president and House Speaker.

But Feinstein — who will also be the chamber's oldest currently-serving member come January — issued a statement to the Washington Post last month saying that she's not interested in running for and serving as president pro tempore of the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will instead nominate the 72-year-old Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington — the next most senior Democratic senator, having been elected just two months after Feinstein — to the position, a source familiar with the discussions told Insider on Wednesday.

Yet when Feinstein was asked by Insider at the Capitol on Tuesday about the potential of taking on the job — she would be the first woman in American history to hold the position — the California Democrat insisted that she hadn't thought about it.

"Well, I haven't thought about it, but I'll let you know when I do," said Feinstein, who was first elected in 1992. "I just got back, I've had a lot of issues."

An aide walking with the senator quickly interjected, telling Insider that Feinstein had "told a few reporters in the past that she's not thought about it, and has no intention of seeking the position."

"That's what you've told reporters," the aide said to Feinstein.

"I don't know what you're saying," she replied.

"This is about the Senate pro tem position," he said.

"Well, I haven't said anything about it, that I know of," she insisted.

"You were asked about it over the break, and you put out a statement saying that you had no intention of running for it," he said, apparently referencing the statement given to the Post.

"Okay, well then, I guess it's out," she conceded.

Asked by Insider why she doesn't want the position, she pointed to her husband's recent death.

"I just lost my husband a short time ago, I'm putting my life together, and I intend to continue in this position and do as well as I possibly can," she said.

But the lawmaker refused to say she wasn't up to the job.

"I'm just saying I haven't thought about it."

The California Democrat's apparent decision not to seek the position comes amid ongoing questions about her ability to serve given both her age and reports that she is experiencing cognitive decline. Earlier this year, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer declined to say whether he had confidence in her ability to serve when asked by Insider.

Feinstein has at times appeared confused when performing routine duties as a legislator.

"I don't even know what that is," an exasperated Feinstein could be heard telling a staffer in the Capitol about a vote on a government funding bill in September.

After facing criticism from fellow liberals for her handling of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation hearing in the fall of 2020, Schumer reportedly had to tell Feinstein on two separate occasions to step down as the top Democrat on the committee, which she agreed to do.

Schumer announced his nomination of Murray — which will be voted on by the Democratic caucus on December 8 — during the party's closed-door Senate caucus lunch on Wednesday, according to the source.

The day before, Insider attempted to ask Murray if she would seek the position at Senate Democrat's weekly Tuesday press conference. But Schumer quickly interjected."Stay tuned," he said.

Insider recently explored America's gerontocracy in the "Red, White, and Gray" project, finding that nearly one in four members of Congress are in their 70s and 80s and that the vast majority of Americans view the increasingly advanced age of politicians as a problem. And staffers for long-serving members have often had to play an outsize role in helping their bosses do the job.
Newsletter

Related Articles

TIMES.KY
Close
0:00
0:00
Actor Tom Hanks told Harvard University graduates to be superheroes in their defense of truth and American ideals, and to resist those who twist the truth for their own gain
The Sussexes' Royal Rebound: Could Harry and Meghan Markle Return to the UK?
A provocative study suggests: Left-Wing Extremism and its Unsettling Connection to Psychopathy and Narcissism
France Arrests 10 on Suspicion of Failing to Respond in Time to Migrant Drowning
Neuralink Receives FDA Approval for First-in-Human Clinical Study
Is Saudi Arabia the holiest place in the world? Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions from "The Mount Sinai Stand" Discovered in Saudi Arabia
Ukrainian Intelligence Official Admits to Assassination Attempts on Putin
Bernard Arnault Loses $11.2 Billion in One Day as Investors Fear Slowdown in US Growth Will Reduce Demand for Luxury Products
Russian’s Wagner Group leader: “I am not a chef, I am a butcher. Russia is in danger of a revolution like in 1917.”
TikTok Sues Montana Over Law Banning the App
Ron DeSantis Jumps Into 2024 Presidential Race, Setting Up Showdown With Trump
Last Walmart in North Portland Closing Down
Florida's DeSantis seeks to disqualify judge in Disney case
Talks between US House Republicans and President Biden's Democratic administration on raising the federal government's $31.4tn debt ceiling have paused
Biden Administration Eyeing High-Profile Visits to China: The Biden Administration is heating things up by looking into setting up a series of top-level visits to Beijing by top officials in the coming months
New evidence in special counsel probe may undercut Trump’s claim documents he took were automatically declassified
A French court of appeals confirmed former President Nicolas Sarkozy's three-year jail term for corruption and influence peddling
Debt Ceiling Crises Have Unleashed Political Chaos
Weibao Wang, a former software engineer at Apple, was charged with stealing trade secrets related to autonomous systems, including self-driving cars
Mobile phone giant Vodafone to cut 11,000 jobs globally over three years as new boss says its performance not good enough
Elon Musk compares George Soros to Magneto, the supervillain from the Marvel Comics series.
Warren Buffett Sells TSMC Shares Over Concerns About Taiwan's Stability
New Study Finds That Secondary Bacterial Pneumonia Is a Major Cause of Death in COVID-19 Patients Who Require Ventilator Assistance
The Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines calls the British monarchy "an absurdity" he wants to remove in his lifetime
King Charles III being crowned.
'Godfather Of AI' Geoffrey Hinton Quits Google To Warn Of The Tech's Dangers
A Real woman
Vermont Man Charged with Stalking After Secretly Tracking Woman with Apple AirTag
Elon Musk Statements About Tesla Autopilot Could Be 'Deepfakes,' Lawyers Claim. Judge Evette Pennypacker Does Not Understand How Far and Advanced This Technology Became
Ukraine More Prepared for Counterattack as Reinforcements Arrive
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Discuss Migration, Defence, and Ukraine
AT&T's Successful Test of Satellite-Based Phone Call Raises Possibility of Widespread Coverage
CNN: "Joe Biden is asking for four more years — when 74% of Americans think the country is heading the wrong way“
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Cuts Short Live TV Interview Due to Health Issue
US Congresswoman threaten Twitter Files journalist with arrest
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh slams New York Times' pro-government stance and treatment of sources
Enough is enough: it's time to end the war in Ukraine. While Russia may be to blame for starting it, Russia is not the one refusing to stop it
Fox News Settles their case with Dominion Voting Systems for a staggering $787.5 MILLION
AG decries scapegoating and rushed lawmaking by government
The land of the free violence
21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira has been arrested for leaking classified Pentagon Documents
The Supreme Court will allow a 12-year-old transgender West Virginia girl to compete on her middle school’s girls' sports teams amid a lawsuit over a ban
Bank of America cuts short conference after outrage at Ukraine comments
Revealed: royals took more than £1bn income from controversial estates
Mitt Romney calls Trump indictment 'overreach,' says charges were 'stretched' to suit a 'political agenda'
The G-7 aims to make global crypto regulations tougher
Don’t Dismiss China’s Peacemaking Bid
China and Brazil have signed a new deal that will allow them to trade in their own currencies, bypassing the US dollar as an intermediary
Elon Musk and Others Call for Pause on A.I., Citing ‘Profound Risks to Society’
Nashville style execution
×