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.

  • Cosmic Cleric@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    If we’re going to do something like that can we go full Logan’s Run and have a Carousel and orgies and everything?

    • atzanteol
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      1 year ago

      The children in this thread don’t know what Logan’s run is. 😆

      • Cosmic Cleric@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Yeah, I think their version was called ‘The island’, which was a decent movie, but definitely no Logan’s Run.