Former Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) questioned calls for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to step down because of her health, saying that she has never seen a man in that position face similar calls.
“I find it interesting. I don’t know what political goals are behind this kind of attack on Sen. Feinstein. Pelosi told reporters on Wednesday that she had never seen the Senate go after a sick person in that way.
Reps. Ro Khanna (Calif.) and Dean Phillips (Minn.) have asked Feinstein to step down because she has been out of the Senate for so long because of her health.
Khanna was the first person to ask the 89-year-old to step down before her term ends in 2025.
Khanna said on Twitter, “She has spent her whole life serving the public, but it is clear that she can no longer do her job.”
“Senator Feinstein is an extraordinary American who has done a lot for our country. But Phillips said, “I think it’s now a dereliction of duty to stay in the Senate and a dereliction of duty to agree to stay quiet.”
Feinstein answered the calls on Wednesday by saying that the Senate should select a temporary replacement for her on the Senate Judiciary Committee while her health problems keep her from going back to Washington, D.C.
Feinstein hasn’t been in the Senate since February, when she was told she had shingles. Because she isn’t on the Judiciary Committee, Democrats haven’t been able to move partisan choices through committee so they can be voted on by the full Senate.
She has already said that she won’t run for another full term in 2024, which would be her sixth. Several well-known Democrats from California are running to take her place.
Adam Schiff, Katie Porter, and Barbara Lee, all Democrats from California, have all said they want to run for president. Khanna was said to be thinking about running himself, but he said last month that he would not run and backed Lee instead.
Pelosi has been supporting Schiff in the race, and she said that Feinstein has been a “champion” for California throughout her career. She also said that she has seen the senator’s work for the country and the state “firsthand” and “up close.”
Pelosi added, “She deserves the respect to get well and get back to work.”
Rep. Norma Torres, a Democrat from California, tweeted that she hoped Feinstein would get better and also said that men and women are judged differently.
“Men are quick to forget about women when they get old or sick. “Men get a raise when they get old or sick,” she said.
