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The death of Sen. Dianne Feinstein places Gov. Gavin Newsom under intense pressure to quickly name a replacement as a bitterly divided Congress votes on a spending plan in the coming hours to avert a government shutdown.

Newsom had hoped to avoid the politically charged decision of selecting a second senator. But he will need to move swiftly as a budget standoff has the government on the verge of shutting down, and Senate Democrats could need every vote. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) affirmed on Friday that the fast-moving political situation creates an imperative for Newsom to make a difficult decision quickly.

“He, you know, wants to be respectful and not name somebody while folks are still grappling with their grief,” Kaine said, but “we cannot afford to be one down. We really can’t.”

The timing of Feinstein’s death — four months before a primary but more than a year before the end of her term — complicates this election cycle. Staff at the California secretary of state’s office was huddling early Friday morning to determine the timelines that would govern an appointment or a possible special election.

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[-] FarceMultiplier@lemmy.ca 153 points 1 year ago

If he didn't already have someone in the wings to replace a seriously ailing 90 year old, then I'm going to consider him incompetent.

[-] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 31 points 1 year ago

Yup.

Especially after the controversy with the “I would like to vote…” bit.

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[-] Rapidcreek@reddthat.com 59 points 1 year ago

If I were placing a bet, it would be on Shirley Weber, a black woman who Newsom appointed to be SoS when he named Alex Padilla to the US Senate. She's a former state legislator, and at age 75 a 15 month appointment to the US Senate would be a fine way to cap off her political career, while making good on Newsom's promise to name a black woman and to appointment a "caretaker" who wouldn't run for the post.

[-] BertramDitore@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

Perfect. It’s not overthinking it, while keeping a promise, and not rebuffing anyone who wants to or is already running for the seat. I hope he doesn’t fuck this up.

[-] takeda@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

And then she stays for next 30+ years...

I'm joking, that sounds reasonable and would also fit his statement that he won't pick up either of the running candidate to not tip the scale and to not tip it would have to be somebody who won't run next year. So as long as she guarantees that she won't run, then indeed she sounds like a great choice.

[-] ronalicious@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago
[-] flossdaily@lemmy.world 51 points 1 year ago

Remember, as awful as she was, there are 49 Republican senators who are infinitely worse.

[-] hglman@lemmy.ml 27 points 1 year ago

They are both systemic issues, and ranking them by "bad" is not particularly important. Ranking them by changeable is. Which is to say, either promote acceleration or term limits.

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[-] Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca 48 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

This is why 90-year olds shouldn't be allowed to run for political office. You know they can die at any moment and it's not going to be a convenient time.

[-] Subverb@lemmy.world 37 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Same is true of lifetime Supreme Court appointments. Look at what Ginsburg's poorly timed death did. Her legacy is permanently tarnished by allowing Trump of all people appoint her replacement.

Ginsburg no-doubt thought that Hillary Clinton would be there to do that, but how'd that work out? Roe vs Wade got overturned. Disgusting.

She should have retired before Obama left office.

[-] MagicShel@programming.dev 13 points 1 year ago

Yes, but also they’d have blocked any nomination because of the republican-senate rule that you can’t hold hearings on a nomination during a Democrat administration.

[-] Jaxom_of_Ruatha@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

She should have retired the moment he was re-elected; there would have been no way for the Republicans to have justified delaying hearings.

[-] Hyperreality@kbin.social 23 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

“He, you know, wants to be respectful and not name somebody while folks are still grappling with their grief,”

What a load of crap.

She was 90, everyone knew this was coming, arguably she'd already left the building a while ago, and this is politics not a private family gathering.

They're delaying because they want to be seen as respectful. It's optics. That's all.

[-] CosmicCleric@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

They’re delaying because they want to be seen as respectful. It’s optics. That’s all.

You realize they all knew each other quite well, they were all in the same inner circles, right?

That maybe, just maybe, they're actual human beings and they actually do want to pay respect?

[-] Hyperreality@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

"Dear passengers, we apologize for the delay, but one of our pilots pilot died last week, we all knew them quite well, and we feel really bad about it, so out of respect we'll delay hiring a replacement and cancel the hundred flights they would otherwise have flown over the coming week."

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[-] Decoy321@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

What a pessimistic take. We should be expecting this kind of behavior from our politicians, not denigrating or whenever we see it.

[-] halferect@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago

This is how I see it, if you needed heart surgery but the surgeon died and the chief decided not to hire a new heart surgeon until everyone's fee fee feels got better and you died would you applaud the chief for being respectful? Fuck no and I'm sorry but she has been basically dead for at least a year and the second she was pronounced dead they should have been swearing in a replacement.

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[-] roofuskit@kbin.social 17 points 1 year ago

If he didn't have a shortisg ready to go he shouldn't be governor. Her death was not an unforseen event.

[-] Subverb@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

He does have a short list. A very short one. He has stated that he will appoint a black woman. But he's been back peddling on that, much to the chagrin of the only black woman running for the seat, congresswoman Barbara Lee.

[-] MrPoopyButthole@lemm.ee 14 points 1 year ago

How long is "temporary" when the previous person worked until they died at 90 years old?

[-] Cethin@lemmy.zip 14 points 1 year ago

Im sure its until the election, then they need to actually be elected.

[-] Serinus@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

The governor appoints to a vacancy in California.

[-] Cethin@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 year ago

Until an election, yeah.

[-] ech@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago

The previous person wasn't appointed by the governor.

[-] Drusas@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

He has had ample time to see this coming and make up his mind.

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this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2023
320 points (98.8% liked)

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