Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) has pushed back against comments made by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that calls for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to resign are sexist.
Feinstein has been absent from the Senate since February, when she was diagnosed with shingles.
A number of Democrat lawmakers—including Khanna—have called for Feinstein to resign owing to her prolonged absence from Congress on the premise that it’s holding up important committee work.
Pelosi criticized those calls on Thursday, suggesting that they were rooted in sexism.
“I don’t know what political agendas are at work that are going after Sen. Feinstein in that way. I’ve never seen them go after a man who was sick in the Senate in that way,” Pelosi told reporters on Capitol Hill.
Another Democrat lawmaker, Rep. Norma Torres (D-Calif.), similarly suggested that there was a gender-based double standard behind calls for Feinstein to resign.
“When women age or get sick, the men are quick to push them aside,” Torres said in a Twitter post. “When men age or get sick, they get a promotion.”
Khanna on Thursday pushed back against the view that calls for Feinstein’s resignation have anything to do with sexism.
In an appearance on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom,” Khanna was asked about Pelosi’s comments.
“This has nothing to do with gender,” he said. “I don’t know any other job where if you’re unable to fulfill your duties, you can continue to have the position.”
“So I think she should do the dignified thing,” he continued. “I respect her years of public service and she should know when it’s time to step aside.”
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Feinstein’s absence from the key Senate Judiciary Committee has kept Democrats from advancing their nominees through the committee for a vote on the Senate floor.“We have a crisis in the judiciary with extremist judges stripping away women’s rights. You can’t preach on television about the danger of these judges and then sit silently as Sen. Feinstein misses vote after vote to confirm pro-choice judges,” Khanna said. “It’s time for California officials who care deeply about reproductive rights to call on her to step down at this moment in history.”
Feinstein, for her part, has responded to calls for her resignation by saying that the Senate should appoint a temporary replacement to sit in for her on the Judiciary Committee.
“I understand that my absence could delay the important work of the Judiciary Committee, so I’ve asked [Senate Majority] Leader [Chuck] Schumer [D-N.Y.] to ask the Senate to allow another Democratic senator to temporarily serve until I’m able to resume my committee work,” Feinstein said in a statement on Wednesday.
Feinstein said she initially expected to return to her job on Capitol Hill by the end of March, but “due to continued complications” related to her diagnosis, her return to Washington has been delayed.
“I intend to return as soon as possible once my medical team advises that it’s safe for me to travel,” she said, adding that she remains “committed to the job and will continue to work from home in San Francisco.”
Shingles, also called herpes zoster, is an illness that triggers a painful skin rash, according to the National Institute of Health.
Cases of shingles are not normally life-threatening, although the disease can be fatal for elderly people or those with compromised immune systems.
Schumer said in a statement Wednesday that, in accordance with Feinstein’s wishes, he would ask the Senate next week to let someone take her spot on the committee.
Feinstein, who was California’s first female senator, has said she does not plan to seek reelection in 2024.
Three California Democrats—Reps. Katie Porter, Adam Schiff, and Barbara Lee—have announced their respective intentions to run for the seat that she will vacate.
While Feinstein has not yet endorsed any of the candidates for her seat, Pelosi has backed Schiff.
Schiff gained prominence among Democrats as the chief prosecutor in former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial, which ended with an acquittal.
He was also a member of the now-dissolved congressional committee that conducted an 18-month investigation of the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Khanna, in his remarks to Fox News, said he’s aware Pelosi is “very much for Adam Schiff getting that seat,” while Khanna himself has endorsed Lee.
In a separate interview on CNN on Thursday, Khanna said that temporarily replacing Feinstein on the Judiciary Committee, while a “step” in the right direction, is “not that simple.”
“Any Republican senator can object to that … we have to see if that’s even possible,” Khanna told CNN. “My question is why not just take the step and resign? Instead of going through all of these motions.”
Khanna insisted in his interview on Fox that his call for Feinstein’s resignation is “simply about whether someone can do their jobs.”
