When have Senate Democrats EVER sacrificed an ailing party member to republican obstinacy?

[bigtree]

...tell me when the party has forced out a member just because republicans played hardball?

I want to know if this has ever happened because, I believe we're on the verge of an historic appeasement by a Senate Democratic majority to a republican minority in demanding Sen. Feinstein resign because republicans won't budge.

I've never seen anything like this, and it will be a permanent stain on the party if she's ultimately forced out because, republicans. It's the future of fascism, minority rule because the majority party won't stand up to them.

Who's next? What other republican obstruction will the party roll over for? What Democrat is next in line to be retired in reaction to republican obstruction? Once republicans see the Democratic party is willing to sacrifice one of their own in response to their petty politics, they won't stop there.

[David__77]

1. I believe if the roles were reversed the Republicans would assure their committee majority.

…

[bigtree]

2. we should know this well

...republicans would never choose keeping in place rules they could change by a simple majority over defending their members.

[Bayard]

3. What's the alternative?

She won't even come back to DC.

[bigtree]

5. how about waiting?

...or organize our Senate majority to vote in a rules change eliminating the need for a 60-vote threshhold for temporarily replacing ailing members, doind so on a simple majority vote.

The Senator has said she intends to return when her doctors say she is well enough. Her office has reported that she is 'steadily improving' from the attack of shingles which had her hospitalized for a time.

[Fiendish Thingy]

8. To change the rules you need 60 votes to break the filibuster

Because Dems don’t have the votes to use the nuclear option.

I wish it weren’t true, but those are the facts.

[bigtree]

15. then this is about those Democrats, and not a temporarily ailing Sen. Feinstein

...which is my point.

When are the calls of those Senators to budge going to start? You'd think that would be expected before calling on an ailing senator to resign.

[Autumn]

4. We are not Republicans. We did sacrifice a few for petty so called morality bullshit.

Al Franken comes to mind. No one is forcing her out. She asked to step down from her committee because her being absent is harming Biden's agenda . Just another reason why no judge should be appointed by a president. Federal employees should be hire and fired on their own merits. Legal people are a dime a dozen. People seem to think the republicans will allow someone else to be appointed in her place but that's wishful thinking. The solution here is to consider a retirement age for them. They are all very good at mandating retirement ages for us. No one should be serving at the age of 90 and certainly not with age related health issues. Republicans will be assholes no matter what we do. Dems should learn that.

[bigtree]

6. Franken was accused of wrongdoing, but not this Senator

...all she's guilty of is being temporarily ill from the effects of shingles.

There is ZERO precedent to this abomination.

[Demsrule86]

13. Judges count more...sorry.

Letting the GOP get one single additional judge because of this travesty would be an abomination...is Sen. Feinstein remaining a Senator for 18 lousy months worth losing more rights?

[Autumn]

21. Is there a process to insure we get someone appointed on the committee if she resigns?

If so she should resign immediately and Democratic leadership should be pushing for it.

[bigtree]

23. find me one assurance.

...that should be a minimuum standard for this sacrifice.

[Autumn]

25. Judges.

[bigtree]

33. who will still be sitting there as some republican refuses to allow the new member on the committee

...do you really believe they'd allow Barbara Lee to advance to the committee, as Gavin Newsome has said he intends to appoint a black woman?

Or even Katie Porter or Adam Schiff who both are thorns in conservative republicans' sides.

[Autumn]

14. Democrats have pounded the importance of Biden appointing judges or our democracy is gone.

People are upset because the process seems to be at a halt because of the health issues of one elderly committee member. You are surprised that they think she should retire early? Franken was accused by Leeann Tweeden a fucking republican of an unwanted kiss and a few other dubious stories that were NEVER proved and hounded out of office by Democrats. That was an abomination. This isn't.

[demmiblue]

18. +1

[GuppyGal]

20. Yet it feels and sounds just the same. nt

[bigtree]

30. it's worse because Sen. Feinstein hasn't been accused of anything improper, illegal, or wrong

...it's one thing to bow to pressure for an accused legislator.

Quite another to sacrifice a sitting senator for a dubious political tactic.

[GuppyGal]

51. +1000

[Demsrule86]

28. +1000 Well done Autumn...and much more elegant and succinct than my posts...

[Fiendish Thingy]

32. DiFi resigning won't solve the problem of confirming judges

In fact it could make it worse.

She should have resigned in December before the new congress was seated and committee members appointed.

[bigtree]

35. she was diagnosed and hospitalized with shingles in February

...and it's not realistic or even based in fact that rumors about her mental health should have prompted her to resign, as many are insisting today.

I guess she should have anticipated she'd catch an illness, not restricted to the aged, and preemptively headed this off before it even occurred.

[leftstreet]

42. +1

[Fiendish Thingy]

7. I don't see the push for resignation as a response to Republicans playing hardball

As resignation wouldn’t solve the “hardball” problem as far as having a functioning senator on the judiciary committee, it would only solve the problem of having a second senator from California available for floor votes.

No, this seems to be more of a problem of opportunism, specifically Barbara Lee’s advocate, Ro Khanna, trying to force DiFi’s resignation so that Newsom can appoint Lee to fill the remainder of the term, which would be Lee’s only chance of getting elected in 2024, as she is running far behind Porter and Schiff in the polls and in fundraising. The problem with that is many in California politics are floating the trial balloon that if the seat becomes vacant, Newsom will fill it with someone who promises not to run for re-election.

I don’t think DiFi should have run for re-election in 2018, and if resignation were in the cards, it should have happened in December 2022, so that her replacement on the judiciary committee could have been seated in January with the rest of the senate. Now that’s all water under the bridge, and calling for DiFi to resign now won’t solve the problem of getting Biden’s judges confirmed.

[Demsrule86]

12. That is not true. If she resigns, we can appoint someone else to the committee.

She must resign.

[bigtree]

29. why do believe republicans who just rolled you will agree to seat anyone?

... no republican has as much as mentioned they might, but here we are expecting them to act differently if we appease them with a sacrifice of a sitting Senator.

There will still need to be a full Senate vote on any replacement, and republicans who have said they won't advantage Democrats in advancing judges now, shouldn't be expected to approve any other Democrat for that committee seat in the future.

What are we going to do? Appease them further by advancing a Democrat that will bend to their wishes?

[Fiendish Thingy]

31. That is false

If she resigns, Newsom can appoint a replacement to her seat in the senate, but to replace her on the judicial committee requires 60 votes.

[GuppyGal]

19. +1000

[Vinca]

9. I don't see it as appeasement, I would see her resignation as hardball. Republicans assume Democrats

will go ho-hum, shrug their shoulders and do nothing. Feinstein has had more medical problems than just shingles and should do the right thing. It's not sexism, ageism or any other ism, it's about her capability to do the job. Let a younger, healthier Democrat be appointed to serve out her term and get the judges passed while we can.

[bigtree]

22. it's 'hardball' demanding a Senator resign because republicans were obstinate?

...that's appeasement in any book.

Hardball would be f the Senator had made that decision herself without pressure from her own timid party. Now it's appeasement, no matter what the outcome, which doesn't even come with republican assurances that her replacement will be granted approval by republicans.

Who really believes republicans would let a Barbara Lee, Katie Porter, or Adam Schiff, glide to the committee seat? It's really something to expect them to eventually let Democrats fill the seat when they watch them sacrifice their own in the face of republican obstinacy.

Who are these people selling this like it's a done deal? Why should craven republicans be counted on to go along with this self-immolation for a seat?

[Vinca]

49. Okay, then I guess we should be prepared for more right wing judges since we're not getting ours in.

[bigtree]

50. only in the internet fantasy Senate

...in the real world, a reported recovering Feinstein will likely return to assume her duties on the committee before the nominations ALREADY VOTED OUT and stacked up on the Senate floor can be acted on.

Axios:

Even if Republicans don't acquiesce to replacing Feinstein, that doesn't stop Democrats from confirming nearly 20 judicial nominees already advanced out of Judiciary, noted Josh Chafetz, a law professor at Georgetown University Law Center.

"This all seems a bit premature," he told Axios, "given how many judicial nominees are sitting on the executive calendar. It'll take the Senate a while ... to get through everyone who has already been voted out of committee."

Many of the nominees still before the committee could garner enough GOP support to not be affected, according to a source familiar with the process, who said just a handful of party-line appointments are at risk.
https://www.axios.com/2023/04/13/dems-substitute-feinstein-judiciary-committee

and...

Although the Feinstein absence has caused headaches for the judiciary, and is in part why there have been calls for her to resign, Republicans familiar with the process believe that of the 14 judges yet to be confirmed by the committee, only four or five would need to be confirmed through a party-line vote.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/republicans-want-make-difficult-senate-replace-feinstein-key-panel-rcna79592

[TheRealNorth]

10. It's no big deal

It will just give Republicans the opportunity to appoint more Judge Kasmaryks 's after 2024, should they get control of the Senate. It's not like we would lose any other rights.

[Demsrule86]

11. How do you not understand that we won't get any judges unless the Senator comes back

or resigns so we don't need 60 votes...Judges are more important than politics. Look what happened with SCOTUS.

[bigtree]

16. you've surrendered before the battle has even begun

...just on the word of a handful of republicans.

Don't present that timidity as some sort of virtue, not while you're prepared to sacrifice a sitting Senator who hasn't done anything wrong except become ill.

[Demsrule86]

26. The bottom line is judges and I am sure you are too intelligent to believe that we can

Make the GOP do anything... they stopped a sitting president from seating a supreme court judge. They will not cooperate in any way. So the question really is can we afford not to ask Senator Feinstein to resign...the tyranny of the courts is a very frightening possibility if we can't get enough Democratic judges through. She is leaving in 18 months anyway. And should never have run for her current term if you ask me. I just don't think saving her seat is worth sacrificing Democratic judges.

[bigtree]

27. we control the Senate

...when republicans were in control they changed the filibuster rules over our party objections without hesitation to suit their nominations.

Democrats aren't restricted from doing the same, especially when they're looking to do the extreme of demanding a sitting Senator resign to accomodate their timidity.

[Autumn]

37. You and I both know the Democrats will not change the rules out of fear that when the Pukes

are in power again they will change the rules too. Democrats could use the nuclear option create a new precedent in the Senate. but they won't do that either.

[Demsrule86]

41. I was under the impression that the nuke option could not be used as it is not about finance...if

it is possible then Democrats should use it.

[Demsrule86]

38. We don't have the votes and 2024 would be too late as I expect we may lose the Senate given

our terrible Senate map.

[Fiendish Thingy]

34. Resignation won't solve the problem of confirming judges

Her replacement to the judiciary committee would have to approved by the full senate, subject to filibuster.

[Demsrule86]

36. No it doesn't because once she has resigned she is no longer counted and a simple majority is

needed.

[Autumn]

39. I was not aware of that. Then a replacement could be appointed to the committee?

Sounds like the ideal solution to me.

[Fiendish Thingy]

43. Nope

All vacancies on any committee must be approved by the full senate, unless the full senate agrees to change the rules.

[Demsrule86]

44. I have read and heard on MSNBC that if she resigns then a replacement can be appointed...

I looked for links but don't see much so that is what I have heard. I called Sen. Brown's office too and they said if a resignation is tendered we can add to the committee...That is what I know.

[Fiendish Thingy]

40. Nope

You keep repeating the same nonsense.

Without Feinstein on the committee, it is deadlocked 50/50.

If she resigns, her replacement on the committee must be approved by the full senate.

[Demsrule86]

45. Not if she resigns.

If she is coming back that is one thing but we are likely to lose the Senate in 2024....the map is terrible and given the state of our courts, we can't allow Biden judges to be denied a seat because of one Senator.

[Fiendish Thingy]

47. If she resigns, no judeges will be confirmed for the rest of Biden's term

Go read the senate rules, especially the part on filling vacancies on committees.

You simply don’t know what you’re talking about, yet you insist on continuing to spread misinformation.

[Hekate]

17. Appeasement never works. Al Franken is gone and what did that get us? Gods, are we stupid.

[demmiblue]

24. Some fresh air would do wonders.

It really is getting a bit much.

[leftstreet]

46. Someone should call for an APS investigation

What is her actual physical and mental state?

Are there people around her benefiting through neglect of her state?

A working class non-famous person would have a greater chance of an investigation happening.

[MustLoveBeagles]

48. K&R