Senator Dianne Feinstein, who died final evening at 90, braved probably the most outstanding political expeditions in American historical past—and in addition one of many grimmer spectacles on the finish of her life and profession.
Is it too quickly to level this out? Sure, maybe. With the official discover of her demise as we speak, Feinstein obtained her simply and correct tributes, hitting all the important thing markers: How Di-Fi, as she is understood in Washington shorthand, had stepped in as mayor of San Francisco after her predecessor was assassinated in 1978. How she was a fervent proponent of gun security, the longest-serving lady within the Senate, and the chamber’s oldest member. How, as chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, she presided over the preparation of an incriminating report describing the CIA’s torture of suspected terrorists in secret prisons all over the world. How she was a trailblazer, stateswoman, powerhouse, drive, grande dame, and so forth. Give her her due. She deserves it.
However Congress could be a robust and ghoulish place, with its zero-sum math and unforgiving partisanship. Over her final yr, Feinstein’s declining well being grew to become a bleak sideshow—her absences and hospitalizations, shingles, encephalitis, and unhealthy falls; the lawsuits over her late husband’s property and the price of her medical payments and long-term care.
Feinstein’s insistence on remaining within the Senate—and the uncertainty of her schedule—sophisticated life for Democrats, making it tougher for them to carry votes, set technique, and make sure judges. Her colleagues and White Home officers whispered their frustration. And she or he grew to become the newest exemplar of a primary, egalitarian precept in lawmaking: Even essentially the most legendary figures in the end quantity to a vote. Usually your most essential job is just to be out there, present up, be counted.
When that’s doubtful, endurance can put on quick. Questions on “health” come up. Such is the worth of continued residency within the senior middle of the Capitol. Feinstein resisted quitting for years, and solely grudgingly mentioned she wouldn’t search reelection in 2024, leaving the race to succeed her in a type of morbid suspension.
Politics, in fact, runs by itself schedules and follows its personal guidelines. A couple of weeks in the past, I requested Adam Schiff, one of many California Home Democrats working to succeed Feinstein within the Senate, whether or not she ought to step down. In different phrases, was she match to serve? Once more, possibly this was harsh, nevertheless it had turn into a regular query round Washington and California, and completely germane, given the tight cut up within the Senate. “It’s her resolution to make,” Schiff mentioned, a basic duck, but additionally sensible. “I might be very involved,” he continued, “that the Republicans wouldn’t fill her seat on the Judiciary Committee, and that might be the tip of Joe Biden’s judicial appointments.” (Politico reported as we speak that Republican Whip John Thune, of South Dakota, mentioned he expects that his occasion is not going to resist efforts to fill committee seats left vacant by Feinstein’s demise.)
Schiff added that he had continued to have a productive working relationship with Feinstein’s workplace, regardless of her well being struggles. He was a proponent of enterprise as regular, for as lengthy it lasted, and Feinstein was nonetheless there. The pageant continued, the federal government heading for an additional shutdown, Home Republicans tripping towards an impeachment and over themselves.
Within the hours after Feinstein’s demise was introduced, Washington took a quick and deferential pause. Statements and obituaries had been dispatched, most ready prematurely. Then it was on to the subsequent. Who would California Governor Gavin Newsom decide to serve out Feinstein’s time period? How would that have an effect on the race to succeed her subsequent yr? Who would substitute Feinstein on the Judiciary Committee, and when would they be seated?
The hushed questions on how lengthy the nonagenarian senator might grasp on lastly had their decision. Far too many individuals in energy resist the choice of a restful denouement. The stakes will be excessive, even harrowing, for the nation. These sagas will be distressing to observe, however there’s no scarcity of darkish fascination. Stick round too lengthy, and also you danger dropping management of the finale. It might occur to the very best, and on the finish of essentially the most extraordinary careers.
