Democratic California Rep. Ro Khanna pushed back against his own party Thursday for criticizing his calls for Democratic California Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s resignation.
Khanna and Democratic Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips broke from their party by calling on Feinstein to resign in Wednesday tweets over her recurring absences from Judiciary Committee floor votes due to her shingles diagnosis. The California representative said the 89-year-old senator should resign in order to allow Senate Democrats to effectively vote in President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees.
“I think I was the first member of Congress to do that and I took some heat from my own party, but here’s the reality. I have a lot of respect for Senator Feinstein,” Khanna said on “America Reports.”
“She’s unable to fulfill her duties, I guess, I don’t know any other job where if you’re unable to fulfill your duties, you can continue to have the position. So I think she should do the dignified thing. I respect her years of public service and she should know when it’s time to step aside.”
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused Khanna and other Democrats calling for Feinstein’s resignation are doing so as a “political” motive. The representative said he is not running for the Senate and thus calls for Feinstein’s departure is not a “political agenda.” (RELATED: Sen. Dianne Feinstein Discharged From Hospital After Receiving Shingles Treatment)
“This has to do with the simple principle that California deserves a senator who is actively participating in the books. It was one thing if there was an illness and some clear return date,” he continued. “People get sick, people take medical leaves in job, but when there’s been a pattern for years of not being fully present and when there is no clear return date, I guess my view is that it should be like any other job.”
Pelosi further accused those calling for Feinstein’s resignation of sexism in a statement to reporters Wednesday.
“It’s interesting to me. I don’t know what political agendas are at work that are going after Sen. Feinstein in that way. I’ve never seen them go after a man who was sick in the Senate in that way,” Pelosi said.
Khanna assured this had nothing to do with Feinstein’s gender and is not questioning anyone’s “political motives.”
Feinstein announced in February that she would not be seeking reelection in the 2024 race after serving since 1992. Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff announced his candidacy to replace Feinstein in the Senate in January.