No.
There is no such thing as a assure the alternative will fill their predecessor’s committee seats.
“As soon as there’s a new senator sworn into the vacant seat, she or he solely will get committee assignments after the Senate adopts a easy decision,” Reynolds mentioned.
Opponents can in concept maintain up that course of with a filibuster — steady, usually pointless debate on the ground to trigger a protracted delay to a vote. It will take 60 votes to finish a filibuster.
For Feinstein, who serves on the Judiciary Committee, that query is especially vital.
Even when she left workplace, Republicans might stop her successor — or any Democratic alternative — from filling her seat on the Judiciary Committee, underneath present Senate guidelines. That mentioned, taking such a step can be unprecedented and extremely provocative.
Democrats might move a rule change to make sure that Republicans can’t block new senators from committees by requiring a easy majority as an alternative of 60 votes, mentioned Jim Manley, who spent 21 years within the Senate working for Democrats together with the late Harry Reid, the previous Senate Majority Chief from Nevada.
However Manley famous that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the main GOP senator on the Judiciary Committee, mentioned in a current CNN interview that Republicans would observe precedent if Feinstein resigns.
