# Should Diane Feinstein resign from the senate? She has missed some 60+ of 80+ votes this year {2023-09-29 she passed away} **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 13, 2023, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-diane-feinstein-resign-from-the-senate-she-has-missed-some-60-of-80-votes-this-year-2023-09-29-she-passed-away/982629 "2023-04-13T15:32:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-diane-feinstein-resign-from-the-senate-she-has-missed-some-60-of-80-votes-this-year-2023-09-29-she-passed-away/982629/161 "2023-05-11T14:56:19Z")
There wasn’t even a Republican on the general election ballot last time there was an open Senate seat election in California, due to the jungle primary in that state. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-diane-feinstein-resign-from-the-senate-she-has-missed-some-60-of-80-votes-this-year-2023-09-29-she-passed-away/982629/162 "2023-05-11T21:52:44Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#): > > Why aren’t any of these people subject to the laws they passed? This has been answered, but I’ll just add that even if there were such a law, Congress routinely exempts itself from laws it passes. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-diane-feinstein-resign-from-the-senate-she-has-missed-some-60-of-80-votes-this-year-2023-09-29-she-passed-away/982629/163 "2023-05-11T22:23:19Z")
It is my impression that incumbency confers a significantly larger electoral advantage to a Member of Congress in the US than it does in most other democracies, so parties in the US are disincentivised against putting an incumbent out to pasture. Perhaps because the much larger importance of money in US campaigns. Also US Congressmembers’ staffs seem to be large enough for the machinery of representing the district to keep running with most of the officeholder’ mind already gone. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-diane-feinstein-resign-from-the-senate-she-has-missed-some-60-of-80-votes-this-year-2023-09-29-she-passed-away/982629/164 "2023-05-11T22:54:06Z")
> [@Mops](#): > > It is my impression that incumbency confers a significantly larger electoral advantage to a Member of Congress in the US than it does in most other democracies… I do not know how the US compares to other democracies in this regard but your impression is correct that incumbency provides a HUGE advantage to US candidates. > Ballotpedia covered all state races on November 8, 2022, as well as local elections in [America’s 100 largest cities by population](https://ballotpedia.org/Largest_cities_in_the_United_States_by_population). In the 2022 general election, an average of 94% of incumbents nationwide won their re-election bids.[[1]](https://ballotpedia.org/Election_results,_2022:_Incumbent_win_rates_by_state#cite_note-1) > > Comparatively, in the 2021 general election, 86% of incumbents nationwide won their re-election bids. In the 2020 November election, 93% of incumbents were successful. - [SOURCE](https://ballotpedia.org/Election_results,_2022:_Incumbent_win_rates_by_state) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-diane-feinstein-resign-from-the-senate-she-has-missed-some-60-of-80-votes-this-year-2023-09-29-she-passed-away/982629/165 "2023-05-11T22:58:25Z")
The value is not only incumbency, but seniority. The plum jobs with real power go to the people who’ve been there longest. If e.g. Feinstein resigns, the person who replaces her whether by election or by appointment is all but certain to be a D. So there’s no partisan advantage or disadvantage to replacing her. But (at least prior to her abject dotage) she sat in powerful seats on powerful committees. Her replacement will be in the back of the line for that stuff. So the D’s lose a powerful senator( at least on paper) and gain a powerless Senator. Not a winning move. That logic applies to every senator in every safe seat. The parties do not want churn, and doubly so in a closely divided congress. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-diane-feinstein-resign-from-the-senate-she-has-missed-some-60-of-80-votes-this-year-2023-09-29-she-passed-away/982629/166 "2023-05-11T23:03:41Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Her replacement will be in the back of the line for that stuff. So the D’s lose a powerful senator( at least on paper) and gain a powerless Senator. Not a winning move. Sure, but Feinstein’s term ends in 2025 (about 1.5 years). She has already said she will not run for re-election. So, that seat will be up for grabs and a newbie senator will be there anyway. So, the Dems can appoint someone to finish her term and be an incumbent in the 2024 election or they can let it be a free-for-all in 2024. I’d opt for the former if I were the Dems. Put someone the party likes in that seat now. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-diane-feinstein-resign-from-the-senate-she-has-missed-some-60-of-80-votes-this-year-2023-09-29-she-passed-away/982629/167 "2023-05-11T23:07:08Z")
I agree that is the most sensible thing to do from here in May 2023. She probably should have been replaced about this point in her prior term if raw production was what mattered. There’s probably quite a nasty knife fight happening under a tarp right now to cozy up to Newsom for that appointment. Just because you or I aren’t reading abut it doesn’t mean it’s not happening. ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-diane-feinstein-resign-from-the-senate-she-has-missed-some-60-of-80-votes-this-year-2023-09-29-she-passed-away/982629/168 "2023-05-11T23:12:38Z")
. If that incumbent wins in 2024 he or she will have seniority over other first time dems. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-diane-feinstein-resign-from-the-senate-she-has-missed-some-60-of-80-votes-this-year-2023-09-29-she-passed-away/982629/169 "2023-05-11T23:14:28Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > There’s probably quite a nasty knife fight happening under a tarp right now to cozy up to Newsom for that appointment. Just because you or I aren’t reading abut it doesn’t mean it’s not happening. Given there is pressure on Feinstein to step down I wonder how much she and/or her handlers are trying to leverage that. Basically, Newsom doesn’t get to pick, she does (or her handlers). Otherwise, she sticks it out. Which may suggest why she isn’t budging…Newsom may be feeling it is his pick (I know it technically is…but politics). ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-diane-feinstein-resign-from-the-senate-she-has-missed-some-60-of-80-votes-this-year-2023-09-29-she-passed-away/982629/170 "2023-05-11T23:15:27Z")
That’s a really good point. Some value in that. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-diane-feinstein-resign-from-the-senate-she-has-missed-some-60-of-80-votes-this-year-2023-09-29-she-passed-away/982629/171 "2023-05-11T23:33:39Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > There’s probably quite a nasty knife fight happening under a tarp right now to cozy up to Newsom for that appointment. Just because you or I aren’t reading abut it doesn’t mean it’s not happening. [A vacant Senate seat from Illinois in 2008](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Blagojevich_corruption_charges), and the process of filling it, is how we wound up with yet another of our Governors going to prison. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-diane-feinstein-resign-from-the-senate-she-has-missed-some-60-of-80-votes-this-year-2023-09-29-she-passed-away/982629/172 "2023-05-12T00:25:40Z")
Ahh, the good old days, when sending a corrupt politician to prison wasn’t such a big damn deal. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-diane-feinstein-resign-from-the-senate-she-has-missed-some-60-of-80-votes-this-year-2023-09-29-she-passed-away/982629/173 "2023-05-12T03:09:46Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > . If that incumbent wins in 2024 he or she will have seniority over other first time dems. Indeed – Feinstein herself was first elected to the Senate in 1992 on the same ballot as Barbara Boxer. But because Feinstein was running in a special election to fill the remainder of Pete Wilson’s term, she was sworn in immediately whereas Boxer had to wait until January. Giving Feinstein two months seniority over her fellow Californian. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-diane-feinstein-resign-from-the-senate-she-has-missed-some-60-of-80-votes-this-year-2023-09-29-she-passed-away/982629/174 "2023-05-12T03:22:29Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > Giving Feinstein two months seniority over her fellow Californian. I should probably start a new thread about this but, I gotta say, I find the whole “seniority” bit in congress maddening. The ONLY reason someone gets the best positions is they have been there longer? WTF? No merit? No expertise? Just, “I’ve been here longer,” is the qualification? Madness. /hijack ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-diane-feinstein-resign-from-the-senate-she-has-missed-some-60-of-80-votes-this-year-2023-09-29-she-passed-away/982629/175 "2023-05-12T03:31:08Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > There’s probably quite a nasty knife fight happening under a tarp right now to cozy up to Newsom for that appointment. Just because you or I aren’t reading abut it doesn’t mean it’s not happening. Yeah, the thing is that this is politically touchy stuff for the governor. Newsom already promised that if an appointment came open, he’d pick a Black woman. This was a defensive response to having appointed Alex Padilla to replace Kamala Harris for the last opening. But that was before Feinstein officially bowed out of another election cycle. Now the very black woman that would have been the most obvious appointment pick, Barbara Lee, is openly running to succeed Feinstein. Which means if Newsom appoints her she automatically gets the incumbency advantage in the next election, something neither declared candidates Katie Porter or Adam Schiff want. But Newsom cannot safely back off that pledge without taking political damage. Which means he is between a rock and a hard place. He can try and appoint someone like Karen Bass or Maxine Waters in the hope they play caretaker. But many Black leaders in CA have already lined up behind Lee and they and Lee’s people will cry foul. Newsom is apparently already under a lot of pressure to endorse Lee outright over Porter and Schiff given his previous promise. He can appoint Lee, but then have Schiff and Porter screaming up his ass. Newsom is likely desperately hoping Feinstein holds on until the end of her term to save him from the fallout. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-diane-feinstein-resign-from-the-senate-she-has-missed-some-60-of-80-votes-this-year-2023-09-29-she-passed-away/982629/176 "2023-05-12T03:38:45Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Just, “I’ve been here longer,” is the qualification? > > Madness. It actually has some logic to it. It’s a back stop against favoritism, the natural tendency of all political organizations. If you have clearly defined rules based on seniority, that is at least an objective fact. As opposed to an entirely subjective assessment of ability. It’s the main reason unions prefer to bake it into contracts to prevent bosses from playing divide and conquer. Oh, the reason there are no Black leaders in positions of party leadership is sheer coincidence! Why, just by pure happenstance all of the white legislative leaders happen to be better qualified. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2023, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-diane-feinstein-resign-from-the-senate-she-has-missed-some-60-of-80-votes-this-year-2023-09-29-she-passed-away/982629/177 "2023-05-13T18:56:23Z")
Interesting: > **[Feinstein's Health Crisis Goes Back Farther than We Knew](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/dianne-feinstein-health-crisis-senate-resign-1234734590/)** > > Staff for the high-ranking Democrat have for years had a system to keep her from walking the halls of Congress alone, sources tell Rolling Stone ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2023, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-diane-feinstein-resign-from-the-senate-she-has-missed-some-60-of-80-votes-this-year-2023-09-29-she-passed-away/982629/178 "2023-05-13T21:08:35Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > If e.g. Feinstein resigns, the person who replaces her whether by election or by appointment is all but certain to be a D. So there’s no partisan advantage or disadvantage to replacing her. But (at least prior to her abject dotage) she sat in powerful seats on powerful committees. Her replacement will be in the back of the line for that stuff. So the D’s lose a powerful senator( at least on paper) and gain a powerless Senator. Not a winning move. Her replacement (in committees, not in Congress) also has to wait for Republicans to stop threatening to filibuster the resolution implementing her replacement. ETA: I suppose the seating of the new member of Congress could also be filibustered… but unlike other filibusters the Senate would be unable to address anything other than the credentials of the new Senator, grinding _all_ Senate business to a standstill. That self-destructive behavior could potentially be used as leverage in negotiations for something Republicans want. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2023, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-diane-feinstein-resign-from-the-senate-she-has-missed-some-60-of-80-votes-this-year-2023-09-29-she-passed-away/982629/179 "2023-05-13T23:28:00Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > … That self-destructive behavior could potentially be used as leverage in negotiations _for something Republicans want._ Italics mine. I believe you misspelled “for the destruction of the USA as we know it.” Seriously, overall I agree w your logic completely. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2023, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-diane-feinstein-resign-from-the-senate-she-has-missed-some-60-of-80-votes-this-year-2023-09-29-she-passed-away/982629/180 "2023-05-14T00:19:56Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > ETA: I suppose the seating of the new member of Congress could also be filibustered… but unlike other filibusters the Senate would be unable to address anything other than the credentials of the new Senator, grinding _all_ Senate business to a standstill. I do not believe that it is possible to filibuster the seating of a Senator. The Senate does not vote to seat the new member. Rather, a Senator-elect presents his or her credentials – consisting of the certificate of his or her due election or appointment from the executive of the state – and is entitled to be sworn in. So there’s no motion to filibuster. A Senator may _object_ to the Senator being seated. However, such objection may only be on the basis of the Senator-elect not meeting the Constitutional qualifications for the office. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-diane-feinstein-resign-from-the-senate-she-has-missed-some-60-of-80-votes-this-year-2023-09-29-she-passed-away/982629.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-diane-feinstein-resign-from-the-senate-she-has-missed-some-60-of-80-votes-this-year-2023-09-29-she-passed-away/982629.md?page=10)