Dianne Feinstein to step down as top Democrat on Senate Judiciary Committee following Supreme Court hearing backlash

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Senator Dianne Feinstein of California has announced she will not pursue the top position among Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee. But the decision from the Democrat comes after she faced scrutiny from members of her party for her performance during Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s Senate confirmation hearings – specifically when she praised Republican Lindsey Graham, the chair of the Senate Judiciary committee, for his handlings of the process. “It leaves one with a lot of hopes, a lot of questions and even some ideas perhaps of good bipartisan legislation we can put together.” Following the hearing, Ms Feinstein even went as far as to hug her Republican colleague – a move that sparked swift blowback as it went against the Democratic narrative that Republicans wrongly sped up the Supreme Court nomination after the party blocked President Barak Obama’s justice pick in 2016. Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois is next in line to take the top position for the Democratic Party in the Senate Judiciary Committee, followed by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.