Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is still facing calls to resign from fellow Democrats after an extended absence due to health complications.
Feinstein, at 89, is one of the oldest members of Congress, and while other senators, such as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have taken extended leaves due to medical issues, they have not faced calls to resign from members of their own party, as Feinstein has.
FiveThirtyEight's Alex Samuels noted that Feinstein's seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Democratic Party's slim majority in the Senate mean that without her being able to attend meetings and vote, the panel is unable to proceed with the nomination of federal judges, which is one of the only actions Democrats can take without the House intervening.
"What is the job of being in Congress? It's essentially to show up and vote," said Jeremy Faust, an expert on public health who works as an emergency physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital at Harvard Medical School, told FiveThirtyEight. "And if someone's not doing that, there comes a time where ethically — but not legally — they owe their constituents an explanation for why."
"The average person wouldn't really care about Sen. Feinstein's condition if she showed up and voted every day," Faust continued. "But whether you're the 56th vote or the 50th, you're either fit to serve or you're not. Somebody might get away with just sort of barely showing up when they're the 56th vote versus the 50th, but philosophically, those numbers shouldn't matter."
"I don't think there's any kind of magic test that will determine who is really effective and who isn't," said sociologist Richard Scotch of the University of Texas at Dallas, who also teaches public policy and political economy.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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