Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York called on California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein to resign on Tuesday after her prolonged absence in the chamber due to a shingles infection.
Ocasio-Cortez said Feinstein, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, “should retire,” as her absence has hindered the Senate Democrats’ ability to carry out the confirmation process, she wrote in a Bluesky social media post per CNN. Ocasio-Cortez joined several of her House Democratic colleagues in calling for resignation, including Reps. Ro Khanna of California and Dean Phillips of Minnesota, as well as Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
“Her refusal to either retire or show up is causing great harm to the judiciary – precisely where repro rights are getting stripped. That failure means now in this precious window Dems can only pass GOP- approved nominees,” Ocasio-Cortez said in the post.
Ocasio-Cortez responded to Republican Sens. Joni Ernst of Iowa and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee after they came to Feinstein’s defense, where they said the calls for resignation were “sexist” and “ageist,” according to Axios.
“I think criticisms of that stance as ‘anti-feminist’ are a farce,” Ocasio-Cortez said in the post.
Because Sen. Feinstein was absent, Republicans are passing legislation through the Senate, undermining the right of our residents to breathe clean air.
And with a far-right judiciary targeting our human rights, we are unable to confirm judges.
Sen. Feinstein must step down. https://t.co/99oegbg4OR
— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) April 28, 2023
Amid the calls for her resignation, Feinstein asked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on April 12 if she could temporarily step down and be replaced on the Senate Judiciary Committee until she fully recovers from shingles; Feinstein has been absent since February.
“I understand that my absence could delay the important work of the Judiciary Committee,” Feinstein said. “So I’ve asked Leader Schumer to ask the Senate to allow another Democratic senator to temporarily serve until I’m able to resume my committee work.”
Feinstein did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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