WASHINGTON — California Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s health issues are threatening to imperil President Joe Biden’s quest to remake the federal judiciary — but so far the White House is willing to be patient.
“It is her decision to make when it relates to anything about her future,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday. “It is flat wrong to seek partisan advantage from the health issues of a colleague.”
Republicans blocked a Democratic effort on Tuesday to temporarily replace Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee, where the absence of the Democrat’s tie-breaking vote has left some of Biden’s judicial nominees languishing. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., could bring the matter to a floor vote, but Democrats do not have the 10 Republican votes needed to succeed.
