WASHINGTON — Key Senate Republicans came out Monday against temporarily replacing Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., on the Judiciary Committee, leaving Democrats in a predicament as several of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees are bottled up in the panel.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a senior member of the committee who is close to party leaders, said he and his colleagues oppose the idea as it would help Democrats advance judges on a party-line basis.
“These are, by definition, the most controversial nominees,” Cornyn told NBC News. “And if Democrats are depending strictly on their own party-line vote to get them out of committee— I don’t think there’s any appetite on our side to help what we consider to be controversial or unqualified nominees to get confirmed.”
Asked if there’s a path to winning the 10 Senate Republicans needed to break a filibuster and execute the swap, he said: “I don’t think so.”
Feinstein, 89, has been absent from the Senate for weeks after revealing she had been hospitalized with shingles. Amid calls to resign her seat, Feinstein issued a statement asking that she be swapped out with another Democrat so that the panel can advance judges until she is able to return.
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Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., also came out against the Feinstein plan on Monday.
“I will vote against any attempt by Senate Democrats to temporarily replace Sen. Feinstein on the Judiciary Committee. I deeply respect Senator Feinstein, but this is an unprecedented request solely intended to appease those pushing for radical, activist judges,” Tillis, who also sits on the committee, wrote on Twitter.
Centrist Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she too is against the swap. “She’s been an extraordinary senator, she’s a friend of mine. During the past two years, there has been a concerted campaign to force her off of the Judiciary Committee. And I think that’s wrong, and I won’t be a part of that,” Collins said.
Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., on Monday urged Republicans to show “a little kindness and caring” toward Feinstein and green-light a temporary committee replacement, noting that a similar situation could happen to them in the future.
“She is obviously sensitive to the fact that her absence has an impact on the committee,” Durbin told reporters. “I’m not going to push her into any other decision. I think we can take care of this issue, do it very quickly and I hope we can find 10 Republicans who will join us in that effort.”
Cornyn, Collins and Tillis are among the Senate Republicans who have been more willing to partner with Democrats in recent years. Their rejection of the idea is a bad sign for Democrats, who will need to win a minimum of 10 Republicans, with Feinstein absent, to secure her replacement on the Judiciary Committee.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
