California Senator Feinstein dies at 90
WASHINGTON −Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a trailblazer for women in politics in California and Washington who spent more than 30 years in the U.S. Senate, has died. She was 90.
Known for working across the aisle while championing progressive causes, Feinstein planned to retire at the end of her term after facing concerns about her health and calls to resign. The oldest current member of the Senate, she died at her home in Washington, D.C., on
Thursday night, according to a statement from her office.
“There are few women who can be called senator, chairman, mayor, wife, mom and grandmother,” Feinstein’s chief of staff, James Sauls, said. “She left a legacy that is undeniable and extraordinary. There is much to say about who she was and what she did, but for now, we are going to grieve the passing of our beloved boss, mentor and friend.”
President Joe Biden was one of many prominent political and cultural leaders to publicly mourn her passing. In a statement issued by the White House, Biden − a longtime Senate colleague of Feinstein’s − called her “a pioneering
American. A true trailblazer. And for Jill and me, a cherished friend.
“Often the only woman in the room, Dianne was a role model for so many Americans – a job she took seriously by mentoring countless public servants, many of whom now serve in my Administration,” Biden said. “She had an immense impact on younger female leaders for whom she generously opened doors. Dianne was tough, sharp, always prepared, and never pulled a punch, but she was also a kind and loyal friend, and that’s what Jill and I will miss the most.”
Making history in California, then Washington
Feinstein made history as the first woman elected as mayor in San Francisco and the first woman in the Senate from the state of California. She became the first woman to chair the powerful Senate Rules and Senate Intelligence committees, a perch from which she played an outsize role in some of the most pressing issues of the day, especially after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
Many other parts of American life have been marked by her fingerprints as well, from fighting for an assault weapons ban in 1994 to enshrining marriage equality into law in 2022. She also ushered in Amber Alerts and the Violence Against Women Act.
Feinstein was especially passionate about gun control. Early in her Senate career, Feinstein championed gun control advocacy by authoring the 1994 assault weapons ban that then-President Bill Clinton signed into law. Since the law expired in 2004, Feinstein spearheaded further efforts for stronger gun control legislation.
The last vote Feinstein took was Thursday morning in a Senate effort to prevent a government shutdown.
As news of Feinstein’s passing poured in, the House Rules Committee held a moment of silence in honor of the California Democrat during a meeting on a spending package to avert a government shutdown.
“I know many of us had the opportunity to deal with her and certainly all of us on both sides of the aisle respect her,” Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., chair of the House Rules committee, said Friday morning.
Breaking barriers, blazing trails
Former first lady and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said Feinstein “blazed trails for women in politics and found a life’s calling in public service. I’ll miss her greatly as a friend and colleague and send my condolences to all who loved her.”
Feinstein was first elected to the Senate in 1992, dubbed the “Year of the Woman.”
She broke another barrier in 1978 when she became the first female president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Feinstein went on to become San Francisco’s first female mayor, one of California’s first two female senators, and the first woman to lead the Senate Intelligence Committee and serve as the Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat.
“I recognize that women have had to fight for everything they have gotten, every right,” she told The Associated Press in 2005. At the time, she was sitting on the Judiciary Committee holding hearings on President George W. Bush’s nomination of John Roberts to replace Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court.
Health concerns
Feinstein had been dogged by health problems during her last months in office, which had spurred calls from progressive lawmakers to resign during her last months in office.
For at least three months, she had been sidelined from the Senate with shingles. She also was briefly hospitalized after suffering a fall at her California home and reportedly had been confused when taking certain votes. Other reports said the longtime senator had turned her power of attorney over to her daughter.
Those incidents sparked a larger conversation about the age of U.S. officials, including Biden and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who are in their early 80s.
McConnell had two public health scares this year where he abruptly stopped speaking at press conferences, which raised questions and concerns about his health.
The GOP leader’s doctor released a letter in August clearing the Kentucky Republican to continue with his work schedule, saying he has experienced “occasional lightheadedness,” from dehydration and a previous concussion due to a fall at a Washington, D.C., hotel earlier this year.
McConnell, who was first elected in 1984, fell at least two other times in previously unreported incidents, USA TODAY learned.
Similarly, Biden’s age has remained a persistent pebble in his shoe with Democratic voters.
Those concerns have been magnified at different points as he gears up for reelection, such as a dramatic spill the president took while passing out diplomas to Air Force Academy graduates in June. Critics regularly call attention to awkward moments in Biden’s speeches and circulate clips to highlight those concerns as
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1969 and became its first female president in 1978, the year Mayor George Moscone was gunned down alongside Supervisor Harvey Milk at City Hall. After Moscone’s death, Feinstein became San Francisco’s first female mayor.
Democratic allies seek to downplay the age and mental capacity questions.
The worries have seeped into the consciousness for a significant portion of voters too.
Thirty-seven percent of Democratic and Independent voters say Biden’s age makes them less likely to vote for him, according to a recent USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll.
Outpouring of emotions by lawmakers
Praise for Feinstein came immediately from both Democrats and Republicans.
In tearful remarks Friday morning, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called for the Senate to observe a moment of silence in honor of Feinstein.
“Earlier this morning, we lost a giant in the Senate,” he said.
Schumer said Feinstein was “one of the most amazing people who ever graced the Senate” and the country. He highlighted Feinstein’s integrity and her accomplishments, listing several, like her work fighting for climate justice, marriage equality and reproductive justice and how she has served as the longest-serving female senator in history.
“Dianne Feinstein fought for what was right, even if it was hard and difficult and took months and years to dig in and find out what actually went wrong,” Schumer said.
“Today we grieve. We look at that desk and we know what we have lost,” Schumer added, turning to face Feinstein’s desk, which was draped with a black cloth and a vase of white roses.
McConnell, also spoke to Feinstein’s passing Friday morning on the Senate floor, calling her a “truly remarkable individual” and a “trailblazer.”
“She was an incredibly effective person at every line, at every level, and she was at all of those levels on her way to the Senate,” he said.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said despite her political differences with Feinstein, they worked together to determine the origins of COVID-19 and to update the Violence Against Women Act to protect women from sexual assault and domestic violence.
“Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s life of service blazed a trail for women in politics and the future of girls across the nation,” Ernst said. “Dianne will be missed; she leaves behind an incredible legacy of bipartisanship.”
The Biden connection
Biden, in particular, had a personal and political connection to Feinstein, he said Friday morning.
He said Feinstein showed enormous poise and courage in the wake of tragedy in San Francisco and went on to become “a powerful voice for American values.”
“Serving in the Senate together for more than 15 years, I had a front-row seat to what Dianne was able to accomplish. It’s why I recruited her to serve on the Judiciary Committee when I was Chairman – I knew what she was made of, and I wanted her on our team,” Biden said.
Biden said there is no better example of Feinstein’s “skillful legislating and sheer force of will than when she turned passion into purpose and led the fight to ban assault weapons. Dianne made her mark on everything from national security to the environment to protecting civil liberties. She’s made history in so many ways, and our country will benefit from her legacy for generations.”
First and foremost, fighting for Californians
In his statement announcing her passing, Feinstein chief of staff Sauls noted that despite her national stature on so many fronts, the veteran senator always fought for her California constituents.
“Her passing is a great loss for so many, from those who loved and cared for her to the people of California that she dedicated her life to serving,” Sauls said.
That included playing a key role in environmental issues affecting the nation’s most populous state.
In a statement four days before her death, Feinstein and fellow California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla announced that six grants have been awarded to California rail projects by the Department of Transportation. The money will fund projects to improve the safety, efficiency and reliability of intercity passenger and freight rail.
Feinstein was an especially potent force on climate change issues, given California’s long coastline and role as a breadbasket of American agriculture.
On her Senate office website, Feinstein reserved a prominent place for that issue, urging Californians to join her in the fight to decrease man-made greenhouse gas emissions produced by burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas.
Feinstein implored her constituents to reduce their carbon footprint by adopting more efficient technologies, promoting zero-emission vehicles and embracing renewable energy sources. At the same time, she said, the United States must prepare for more extreme weather patterns and build its infrastructure to be more resilient.
“Changing course won’t be easy. It will require us to manage problems that previous generations never faced,” Feinstein wrote. “But solutions are possible. We must move forward as fast as we can – in our personal choices, in our local communities, as a state, through federal policy, and by upholding and advancing international agreements.”
Contributing: The Associated Press
Postal information
Postmaster:
The print Newspaper in Education program has been discontinued. Funds supporting this program are being redirected to the College Readership Program. If you have any questions, please contact 719-544-0166.