Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) wrote on Saturday that Republicans should not help Democrats confirm President Joe Biden’s radical judges by allowing a “temporary” replacement to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) on the Judiciary Committee.
Feinstein has faced calls to resign as she has continued her indefinite absence, which led the California Democrat to ask Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to “temporarily” fill her seat on the influential Judiciary Committee. With Feinstein’s absence, Senate Democrats have not been able to advance Biden’s judicial nominees.
As Michael Thorning, the Structural Democracy Director for the Bipartisan Policy Center, noted, this potential replacement would be “unprecedented” and would face significant hurdles as ten Senate Republicans would have to agree to this request from Schumer on the Senate floor.