Senate Republicans blocked a simple request from an ailing Democratic colleague Tuesday, refusing to allow Sen. Dianne Feinstein to temporarily step away from her seat on the Judiciary Committee while she continues to recover from a serious illness. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer put the request on the floor, asking for unanimous consent for Maryland Democrat Ben Cardin to serve as the interim committee member, and Sen. Lindsey Graham objected, filibustering Feinstein’s request.
You might think that this latest unprecedented shattering of the norms by the GOP would be enough to make the scales finally fall from Democrats’ eyes. That they would use this opportunity of outrageous obstruction from Republicans to justifiably strike back with a–completely legitimate–move of their own. You would think that right now would be a great time for Committee Chair Dick Durbin to announce that he was no longer honoring blue slips in retaliation for the Republicans blocking a Feinstein replacement.
