Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said Monday she will step down as top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee in the new session of Congress beginning early 2021 (article available here). “After serving as the lead Democrat on the Judiciary Committee for four years, I will not seek the chairmanship or ranking member position in the next Congress,” she said in a statement. Feinstein, 87, said she intends to remain on the committee. She won re-election to a six-year term in 2018 and her term does not expire until the end of 2024.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the No. 2 Democrat in the chamber, said after Feinstein's announcement that he intends to seek the party's top position on the Judiciary Committee, pointing out that he had served on it for 22 years and was the most senior Democrat not to serve at the top of a committee. Durbin is third in seniority on the panel, after Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, who is currently the top Democrat on the appropriations committee.
Feinstein came under fierce criticism from progressives after she lavished praise on Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., for his handling of the Amy Coney Barrett Supreme Court hearing, and gave him a hug after the proceedings concluded on Oct. 15, 2020. “I just want to thank you. This has been one of the best set of hearings that I've participated in,” Feinstein told Graham in the committee room. “Thank you so much for your leadership.”
Her comment not only undercut Democrats’ message that Barrett’s confirmation was illegitimate because it came so close to the election, it also helped boost Graham, who was engaged in a neck-and-neck battle for reelection with Democrat Jaime Harrison in South Carolina.
Progressive groups called on Feinstein to step aside, accusing her of undercutting the party’s message against Republicans holding a Supreme Court hearing on the eve of the 2020 election after they refused to do so under President Barack Obama in 2016.