One House lawmaker is unabashedly sticking to his push for fellow California Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, to resign, arguing powerful people in Washington are defying common sense by not rallying behind his cause.
Rep. Ro Khanna, who hails from the Silicon Valley, shrugged off the blowback he has faced after demanding Feinstein step down because she has been absent from Capitol Hill for several weeks while dealing with complications from shingles.
“Only in Washington would you get criticized for saying something so obvious,” Khanna told Fox News Sunday anchor Shannon Bream.
“I have a lot of respect for Sen. Feinstein, but she’s missed 75% of votes this year. She hasn’t been showing up and she has no intention — we don’t know if she’s even going to show up. She has no return date,” he said.
At the age of 89, Feinstein is the Senate’s oldest member, and in recent years some colleagues have raised concerns about her mental fitness.
Among those who have fired back at the demands for Feinstein to resign is House Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who suggested the calls are rooted in sexism.
Khanna has dismissed the gender-focused rebuttal. He did the same on Sunday with comparisons made to Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who has received more than a month of inpatient treatment for depression. He reasoned that, unlike Feinstein, Fetterman is expected to return to work this week.
“It’s one thing to take medical leave and come back. It’s another thing where you’re just not doing the job,” Khanna added. “The reality here is there’s the sense, well, you need to have a deference to these senators who have served so long. How about a deference to the American people? How about an expectation that if you sign up to do one of these jobs, you show up?”
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Feinstein announced in early March that she had been hospitalized in San Francisco after being diagnosed with a case of shingles.
Though the senator said she hoped to return to Washington, D.C., by the end of March, Feinstein announced this week that her plans were “delayed due to continued complications” related to her diagnosis. Feinstein asked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to temporarily replace her on the Judiciary Committee, where there has been a holdup on judicial nominees, while she continues to recover.
Feinstein announced in February she would not seek re-election in 2024 but has resisted calls for her to step down early. Three prominent House Democrats — Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter, and Barbara Lee — have announced campaigns to replace Feinstein in the Senate. Khanna is co-chairman of Lee’s campaign.
Bream noted that California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has said he would appoint a black woman to replace Feinstein if the senator resigned before her term is up. The anchor asked Khanna if there was any political motivation behind his calls for Feinstein to step down because Lee, who is a black woman, could be a top choice.
“I’m very proud to be a co-chair of Barbara Lee’s campaign. One of the strongest anti-war voices in the Congress, was opposed to these foreign interventions,” Khanna said.
“But Governor Newsom can appoint a caretaker. He doesn’t have to appoint someone in the current race. And I would support the governor doing that,” he continued. “This has nothing to do with the current race because a caretaker would solve that. This has to do with someone who is just not showing up.”
Khanna insisted that what he said out loud was “what people have been saying in private” and observed that people in the Beltway “don’t like it when you call out someone who is in power.”