The death of Senator Dianne Feinstein, the trailblazing Democratic power broker who served in the Senate for 30 years, injected a new element of uncertainty into the nation’s capital on Friday as a divided Congress appeared to be headed toward a government shutdown.
Ms. Feinstein had planned to retire at the end of her term in 2025, and a crowded Democratic primary was already underway for her seat. Her death puts Gov. Gavin Newsom of California under pressure to quickly name a temporary replacement, especially given the narrow advantage that Democrats have in the Senate.
Mr. Newsom had previously pledged to appoint a Black woman to the post, but had not yet spoken on Friday about his plans.
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Ms. Feinstein died on Thursday night. Her condition had grown more acute over the past several months, after a bout with shingles that caused serious complications, including a case of encephalitis, and prompted her to begin using a wheelchair in the halls of the Capitol.
The senator was hailed by her colleagues as a pioneering woman in politics. The first woman to serve as the mayor of San Francisco, she went on to become the longest-serving woman in the Senate, a job she described to friends and colleagues as a “calling.” Read her full obituary.
Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, took to the Senate floor to honor Ms. Feinstein with a moment of silence. Her chair was draped in black velvet and adorned with a vase of white roses. Mr. Schumer, his voice cracking, said she had “changed the nature of the Senate and the fabric of America for the better.”
Ms. Feinstein’s absence was unlikely to have an immediate impact on Capitol Hill, where the Senate is racing to pass a temporary spending bill in an effort to avert a government shutdown. That measure has broad bipartisan backing, but with the chamber evenly divided, an unfilled vacancy could deprive Democrats of a majority on close votes.
Ms. Feinstein, who at 90 was the oldest member of Congress, had rejected calls to step down. Her very public decline shed a spotlight on the advanced age of lawmakers, particularly in the Senate, where many continue to serve long after retirement age.
As mayor, Feinstein made San Francisco ‘vibrant,’ city leaders say.
San Francisco would look very different if Dianne Feinstein had not been its mayor: No more cable cars. No colorful street cars rumbling down Market Street. Perhaps no Pier 39, the kitschy spot on the northern waterfront that draws more tourists each year than any attraction in the city besides the Golden Gate Bridge.
That was the assessment of a host of San Francisco leaders on Friday as they grieved the loss of their first female mayor — one who, they said, cared about the details and about getting things done.President Biden has ordered U.S. flags to be lowered to half-staff until Senator Feinstein is interred.
The death of Senator Dianne Feinstein at the age of 90 is a reminder: Congress is going gray.
The memberships of the House and the Senate have both trended older in recent decades. The Senate’s median age exceeded 65 this year, and is about 13 years older than the median in 1981, according to data published by FiveThirtyEight; in the House, the median is now nearly 58, an increase of about nine years over that same period.
Feinstein was in a dispute over her late husband’s estate.In the last few months of Dianne Feinstein’s life, she was embroiled in a legal dispute with her stepdaughters over the vast riches from the estate of her late husband, the financier Richard C. Blum.
In three lawsuits filed over the summer by Senator Feinstein’s daughter, Katherine Feinstein, the two sides of the family were fighting over a multimillion-dollar beach home and money to pay for her medical expenses, which included a home health care aide.One of Senator Dianne Feinstein’s prime legacies will be her unflinching investigation into the torture of terrorism suspects after the Sept. 11 attacks, and her dogged insistence on making the findings public in order to force a reckoning over what she considered a dark chapter in the nation’s history.
Her quest for accountability pitted her against two presidents of different parties: George W. Bush, whose administration deployed what were euphemistically called enhanced interrogation techniques, and Barack Obama, whose administration resisted the release of the full investigation report for fear of exposing Americans to retaliation from extremists.Leading Republicans on the Senate Judiciary committee said they would not object to Democrats appointing a replacement for Senator Feinstein to the panel, as they did when Democrats suggested a temporary substitute during her protracted absence during an illness this year. “It wasn’t a true vacancy before,” said Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas.London Breed, San Francisco's mayor, and Dianne Feinstein are the only two women to hold that post. Both got the job the same way, by being president of the Board of Supervisors when the previous mayor died. “She provided that support to me, and that mentorship, to make sure I was prepared to step up during a difficult time for our city,” Breed said at City Hall.
In her final months, Senator Dianne Feinstein was far from the towering presence she once was on the American political stage.
She sometimes struggled to recall the names of colleagues, frequently had little recollection of meetings or telephone conversations, and at times walked around in a state of befuddlement, according to half a dozen lawmakers and aides who spoke about the situation on the condition of anonymity.
An emotional Representative Nancy Pelosi of California took to the House floor to honor Senator Feinstein, leading a moment of silence. “Her legacy will be a long one that we will all be inspired by,” Pelosi said. The former House speaker, who had fiercely defended Feinstein from calls that she needed to resign, also noted: “She left on her own terms.”
At a retirement ceremony for Gen. Mark A. Milley, President Biden took a few moments to speak about Senator Feinstein’s passing. “She was a historic figure, a trailblazer for women and a great friend,” Biden told the crowd, noting her work on gun control and climate issues. “The country is going to miss her dearly, and so will Jill and I.”
