Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said on Monday she will not step down from her seat in the United States Senate and will, as of now, complete the rest of her term. She is still reportedly debating whether she will retire in 2024 when she is up for reelection.
California’s 89-year-old senior senator committed to finishing her term in an interview with the Los Angeles Times on Monday evening.
“Yes. Absolutely,” Feinstein told the LA Times. “There’s still two years, you know. A lot can happen in two years.”
The senator added that she would decide “probably by spring” on whether or not she would run for another term in 2024, which would put her at 91 years old.
The latest comments from Feinstein come after months of reports indicating she has become forgetful and that staffers try to hide the decline in her health. One report even admitted that colleagues and former staff said, “it appears she can no longer fulfill her job duties without her staff doing much of the work required.”
The LA Times noted that she never suggested that she would step down but that she has received pressure from her colleagues after she won her reelection campaign in 2018. A spokesperson for the senator added, “The senator has no plans to step down and will announce her plans for 2024 at the appropriate time.”
However, if Feinstein were to step down, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) — during the unsuccessful 2021 recall campaign against him — committed to replacing her with a black woman if the state became vacant.
Additionally, with the 2024 election in sight, California Democrats are starting to line up whether or not Feinstein decides to retire. Recently, Politico reported that Democrat Reps. Ro Khanna, Katie Porter, Adam Schiff, and Barbara Lee are all possible contenders, with three already seeking advice from former Sen. Barbara Boxer.
When asked by the LA Times Feinstein, who has been elected since 1992 when she won a special election, shrugged off possible primary challengers by stating, “That’s the way it is here… You just take it as it comes, and you can’t predict what it’s going to be next. That’s the way it is.”
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.
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