Feinstein to retire at the end of her term
Dianne Feinstein of California, the U.S. Senate’s longestserving Democrat and its oldest member, said she won’t run for a seventh term in 2024.
“I am announcing today I will not run for reelection in 2024 but intend to accomplish as much for California as I can through the end of next year when my term ends,” she said in a statement.
Her decision comes after several years of speculation about whether she would continue in office. Feinstein, 89, has yielded some key roles in the last few years. She has the seniority to serve this session of Congress as the Senate’s president pro tempore, a job that is third in line for the presidency, she passed on it and in January Senator Patty Murray of Washington rose into the prestigious post.
In 2020, she stepped aside as top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee after she was criticized by progressives over her handling of Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings just weeks before the presidential election. The San Francisco Chronicle reported last year that some colleagues were expressing concern about memory lapses and her ability to perform duties.
A San Francisco native, Feinstein arrived in the Senate after winning a special election in 1992, dubbed “the year of the woman” with a record five female senators elected after a backlash over the handling of sexual harassment allegations against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at his 1991 confirmation hearings. She went on to chart a series of “firsts” for women: The first female senator from California, the first to serve on the Judiciary Committee, the first to chair the Rules and Intelligence committees, and the first to serve as ranking Democrat on Judiciary in 2017.
Legislatively, Feinstein is best known as the lead author of the 1994 assault weapons ban, which barred the manufacturer of some semi-automatic firearms and large-capacity magazines. It expired in 2004 and new legislation she put forth in 2013 didn’t pass.
Only two current senators have served longer than she has: Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.