Feinstein draws heat for Graham hug
WASHINGTON — It was the hug that may define — or doom — a long Senate career.
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California embraced Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham at the close of confirmation hearings Thursday for President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, publicly thanking the chairman for a job well done.
“This has been one of the best set of hearings that I’ve participated in,” Feinstein said at the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Calls for her ouster from Democratic leadership were swift, unequivocal and relentless.
“It’s time for Sen. Feinstein to step down from her leadership position on the Senate Judiciary Committee,” said Brian Fallon, the executive director of Demand Justice, which opposes conservative nominees to the courts. “If she won’t, her colleagues need to intervene.”
Eli Zupnick, the spokesman for Fix Our Senate, said: “Senator Feinstein is absolutely wrong about what is happening in the Senate and in her committee.”
He said in his statement that Republicans are trying to “jam” Barrett’s nomination through the Senate and it “should not be treated as a legitimate confirmation process.”
Fallon said in a statement that Democrats can no longer be led on the Judiciary panel by someone who treats “the Republican theft of a Supreme Court seat with kid gloves.”
As other Democratic senators seized the spotlight, utilizing the four days of hearings to lob attacks against Trump and his court nominee, Feinstein often took a more diplomatic approach. At one point she declared herself “impressed” with Barrett’s handling of questions. Eyes rolled.
Still, despite the complaints, Democrats have Feinstein, 87, to thank for a few key moments during the process.
It was Feinstein who drew a notable non- answer from Barrett when asked if she agreed with the late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, her mentor, that the Voting Rights Act “perpetuated racial entitlement.”
And Barrett gave Feinstein a similar no comment when asked if she agreed with other conservatives who argue that Medicare, the senior health care program, is unconstitutional.