参议院共和党人周二阻止了一项暂时取代加州民主党参议员黛安娜·范斯坦在政治上重要的司法委员会的决议，使民主党人希望推动的司法提名陷入僵局。
参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔当天早些时候明确表示，共和党人不会支持民主党人计划暂时替换这位参议员曾要求在她带状疱疹康复期间接受这种治疗。
麦康奈尔称这位加州民主党人是“一位伟大的人物”和“一位亲密的私人朋友”，然后说他不会“无限期地”让她靠边站，这样民主党人和拜登政府就可以“推动一小部分如此极端、如此不合格的被提名人，以至于他们无法在委员会中赢得一个共和党人的投票。”
“让我们明确一点，参议院共和党人不会参与排挤委员会中暂时缺席的同事，以便民主党人可以强行通过他们最差的被提名人，”麦康奈尔在一次发言中说。
2023年4月17日，参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔走向美国国会大厦大厦的参议院会议厅。
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参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)周二下午试图通过一项决议，让马里兰州民主党参议员本·卡丁(Ben Cardin)在司法委员会担任范斯坦的临时替代者，直到她回来。
但是森。林赛·格雷厄姆司法委员会最高共和党人R-S.C .在会上表示反对。
格雷厄姆早些时候告诉记者:“我认为共和党方面没有兴趣临时找人替代。”“我不认为这对参议院来说是一个好的先例——我怀疑是否有任何共和党人会这么做。”
当被问及如果范斯坦下个月还没有回来，她是否应该考虑辞职时，舒默说他几天前和她谈过，“她和我都非常希望她能很快回来，”他说。
范斯坦3月2日宣布，自2月16日以来没有投票，她住院接受带状疱疹治疗。上周，在至少两名众议院民主党人呼吁她辞职后，这位加州参议员表示，由于带状疱疹的并发症，她将延长她的缺席时间，并要求舒默暂时取代她在司法委员会的位置。
随着越来越多的共和党人本周表示反对替换计划，一些人试图将邪恶的动机归咎于民主党人，称临时替换她的决议旨在永远驱逐年迈的范斯坦。
“费恩斯坦参议员是我的朋友，她是一位杰出的参议员。在过去的两年里，显然有一个一致的运动，迫使她离开司法委员会，”缅因州共和党参议员苏珊·科林斯说。“这就是这里正在发生的事情，我不会参与其中。”
“一段时间以来，人们一直在努力让范斯坦参议员辞职，或者把她从司法委员会除名，或者不让她担任主席，”洛杉矶共和党参议员约翰·肯尼迪说。“还没有公开。一直有暗流涌动，有传言说这是影射。幕后黑手应该把头藏在袋子里。”
一些人还批评民主党人为什么只在她所在的三个委员会中的一个委员会中寻找替代范斯坦的人选。她在参议院情报委员会和参议院拨款委员会都拥有席位，但民主党人没有表示他们会努力在这些委员会中取代她。
“如果大多数人来找我们，说费恩斯坦参议员服务的所有三个委员会都需要一个sat，需要一个活跃的成员，那么这就更有道理了，”共和党全国委员会的Thom Tillis说，“事实上他们只关注司法部门...我不会支持它。”
白宫新闻秘书郭佳欣·让-皮埃尔为民主党人辩护，在星期二的白宫新闻发布会上提醒说，暂时取代范斯坦的想法是参议员自己提出的。
让-皮埃尔说，从“一个同事的健康问题”中“寻求党派优势”是“完全错误的”，他声称这里的情况不是这样。“美国人民拒绝那种焦土式的行为或治理方式。这也是她提出的。这是她的要求。”
由于健康问题，国会中年龄最大的议员范斯坦已经自愿放弃了关键职位。她放弃了临时主席的职位，这个职位是给多数党中最资深的成员的。2020年，在范斯坦在时任法官艾米·科尼·巴雷特(Amy Coney Barrett)的最高法院确认听证会上被认为宽大处理后，一片哗然，这位参议员宣布她将在新一届会议上放弃司法委员会的最高职位。
与此同时，加利福尼亚州民主党众议员Ro Khanna继续呼吁范斯坦辞职，因为他预测当她要求舒默暂时取代她时，民主党人将面临这种反对。
“任何一个参议员，共和党参议员，都可以反对，”卡纳告诉记者美国有线电视新闻网上周，选择一个替代者。“我们必须看看这是否可能，我想我的问题是:为什么不采取措施辞职，而不是经历所有这些动议?”
“但我要说这是建设性的，”他补充道。“最紧迫的问题是，我们可以让我们的法官得到确认。”
Republicans block temporary replacement for Feinstein on Judiciary Committee
Senate Republicans blocked a resolution on Tuesday to temporarily replace California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein on the politically important Judiciary Committee, putting stalled judicial nominations Democrats were hoping to push forward back in limbo.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell made clear earlier in the day that Republicans wouldn't go along with a Democraticplan to temporarily replacethe senator, who had asked for such treatment while she recovers from having shingles.
Calling the California Democrat "a titanic figure" and "a close personal friend," McConnell then said he wouldn't be part of sidelining her "indefinitely" so Democrats and the Biden administration could "push through a small fraction of their nominees who are so extreme so extreme and so unqualified, that they cannot win a single Republican vote in committee."
"Let's be clear, Senate Republicans will not take part in sidelining a temporarily absent colleague on the committee just so Democrats can force through their very worst nominees," McConnell said in a floor speech.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell walks to the Senate Chambers at the U.S. Capitol Building, April 17, 2023, in Washington.
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer tried to pass a resolution Tuesday afternoon to have Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., serve as Feinstein's temporary replacement on the Judiciary Committee until her return.
But Sen.Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, objected on the floor.
"I don't think there's any appetite on the Republican side to have a temporary replacement," Graham told reporters earlier. "I don't think this is a good precedent for the Senate -- I doubt if any Republican would do that."
Asked if Feinstein should consider resigning if she doesn't return by next month, Schumer said he spoke to her a few days ago, "and she and I are both very hopeful that she will return very soon," he said.
Feinstein announced on March 2 she was hospitalized and receiving treatment for shingles after not having cast a vote since Feb. 16. Last week, after at least two House Democrats called on her to resign, the California senator said she was extending her absence due to complications from shingles and asked Schumer to temporarily replace her on the Judiciary Committee.
As more Republicans voiced their opposition to the replacement scheme this week, some have sought to ascribe nefarious motives to Democrats, saying the resolution to replace her temporarily was intended to oust the aging Feinstein for good.
"Senator Feinstein is my friend, and she has been an extraordinary senator. During the past two years, there clearly has been a concerted campaign to force her to leave the Judiciary Committee," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. "That's what's going on here, and I will have no part of that."
"For some time there has been an effort to either get Senator Feinstein to resign or to remove her from the Judiciary Committee or to keep her from becoming chair," said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. "It's not been overt. There's been an undercurrent, it's been rumored it's been innuendo. The people who are behind that should hide their heads in a bag."
Some have also criticized why Democrats were looking to replace Feinstein on only one of the three committees on which she sits. She holds seats on both the Senate Intelligence Committee and Senate Appropriations Committee, but Democrats have not signaled they'd effort a replacement for her on those committees.
"If the majority came to us saying that all three committees Senator Feinstein serves on need a sat, need an active member in the seat, then that makes more sense," said Thom Tillis, R-N.C. "The fact that they've only focused on Judiciary ... I wouldn't support it."
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended Democrats from the criticism, reminding at Tuesday's White House press briefing that the idea to temporarily replace Feinstein is one the senator put forward herself.
"It is flat wrong" to "seek partisan advantage" from "health issues of a colleague," Jean-Pierre said, claiming that's not the case here. "The American people reject that type of scorch earth type of behavior or approach to governing. Again, this is something that she put forward. And this was her request."
Feinstein, the oldest member of Congress, has already voluntarily relinquished key positions as a result of questions about her health. She gave up her post as president pro tempore -- a position given to the most senior member of the majority party. In 2020, amid a progressive uproar after Feinstein's perceived leniency during then-Judge Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court confirmation hearings, the senator announced she would surrender her top post on the Judiciary panel in the new session.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., meanwhile, has continued to call on Feinstein to resign after he predicted Democrats would face this sort of opposition when she asked Schumer to temporarily replace her.
"Any single senator, Republican senator, can object to that," Khanna toldCNNlast week, of selecting a replacement. "We have to see if that's even possible, and I guess my question is: Why not just take the step and resign instead of going through all these motions?"
"But I will say it's constructive," he added. "The most urgent issue is that we can get our judges confirmed."
