DIANNE FEINSTEIN

Less than a day after a gunman massacred 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Texas, a Wednesday Senate hearing for President Joe Biden’s pick to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reflected the deep political divisions over guns.

In one form or another, every Supreme Court nominee is asked during Senate hearings about his or her views of the landmark abortion rights ruling that has stood for a half century.

President Joe Biden warns if the Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade and the right to abortion nationwide, it would likely only be the beginning of the stripping away of constitutional rights and protections that Americans currently enjoy. (May 4)

Amid questions about Feinstein's health and fitness for the Senate, there are also doubts about the alternative.

And that’s the problem.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) insists that she remains a productive senator at the age of 88.

Dianne Feinstein's 'memory is rapidly deteriorating,' colleagues reportedly say

The senator's performance during Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation hearings shows she can do the job. Leave her be.

Empathy is not a quality many Republican senators want to see in the next Supreme Court justice.

The left and abortion-rights supporters have tried to get Supreme Court nominees to label Roe v. Wade a "super precedent." But Jackson stopped short of that.

The latest nominee for a seat on the Supreme Court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, has stressed the importance of religious faith in her life and career.

Congress brings back earmarks and California collects $766 million in funding for new projects.

Richard Blum, the husband of California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, has died after a long battle with cancer.

Richard Blum, husband of California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, died Sunday after a long battle with cancer. Feinstein announced her husband's death in a statement Monday morning that said her “heart is broken today.” “My husband was my partner and best friend for more than 40 years," Feinstein said in the statement.

The leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee are demanding Attorney General Merrick Garland take immediate action to reform the beleaguered federal Bureau of Prisons.

San Francisco residents have recalled three members of the city’s school board for what critics called misplaced priorities and putting progressive politics over the needs of children during the pandemic.

A seemingly endless amount of drama, name-calling, lawsuits and outrage from parents made the saga of San Francisco’s school board a riveting pandemic sideshow.

Senator Dick Durbin acknowledged they still need more Republican's support to pass it.

Senator Dick Durbin acknowledged they still need more Republican's support to pass it.

The bipartisan announcement comes after months of negotiations in the chamber. The legislation offers resources for victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has introduced a proposal to reauthorize the 1990s-era law that extends protections for victims of domestic and sexual violence after it lapsed in 2019 because of Republican opposition.

More than 600 sitting senators have died or resigned since the first Congress met in 1789.

Congress dives into legislation to address the practices of the Big Tech companies, dividing Democrats and testing the industry's lobbying power.

During his confirmation to the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh assured Sen_ Susan Collins a woman's right to an abortion was “settled law.”.

A Navy ship named for slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk has been launched in San Diego Bay.

American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and JetBlue will require employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

"We know that air travel during the 2020 holiday season contributed to last winter's devastating COVID-19 surge. We simply cannot allow that to happen again," Feinstein said.

Vice President Kamala Harris urged voters in her home state of California to defend the Democratic Party's progressive values by defeating the recall against Gov. Gavin Newsom.

It’s remarkable how quickly liberals abandoned the women of Afghanistan.

The sweeping $1 trillion infrastructure bill approved by the Senate this week includes funding for Western water projects that farmers, water providers and environmentalists say are badly needed across the parched region.

James Hormel, the first openly gay U.S. ambassador and a philanthropist who funded organizations to fight AIDS and promote human rights, has died.

Senate fails to finalize bipartisan infrastructure bill, will hold key vote Saturday

With much of his voting rights agenda stalled in Congress, the coronavirus pandemic entering a dangerous, politicized new phase and the fate of a much-needed plan to address the nation’s crumbling infrastructure still in doubt, President Biden on Wednesday stood by his support of the Senate filibuster.

Prominent Democrats push the idea that Catholicism in modernity requires adaptation, rather than the courage to stand apart from the political moment.

Amazon, Starbucks and Pepsi are among the companies that signed onto a letter calling on Congress to pass legislation that would expand the Voting Rights Act.

Lawmakers in Congress have introduced a bill that would pump tens of billions of dollars into fixing and upgrading the country's dams.

As California faces the recall election of Gov. Gavin Newsom, we look back at when an effort to oust Dianne Feinstein as San Francisco mayor backfired. It made her a star.

Veteran forester Randy Moore has been named chief of the U.S. Forest Service, the first African American to lead the agency in its 116-year history.

Looming over the Senate Democrats this year is a decision that could fundamentally change Congress as it has operated for decades.

A lakefront compound connected to Sen. Dianne Feinstein and her husband Richard Blum has been listed for more than $40 million.

Generational peers say they should give way, find other ways to serve.

Generational peers say they should give way, find other ways to serve.

Six decades after University of California forestry professor Harold Biswell experimented with prescribed burns and was treated with ridicule, he is seen as someone whose ideas could save the U.S. West’s forests and ease wildfire dangers.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is winning support from top Democrats including Vice President Kamala Harris as he prepares to face a recall election later this year.

FILE - In this June 1, 2020, file photo, San Francisco Mayor London Breed speaks outside City Hall in San Francisco. Breed joined a chorus of officials who have denounced the tweets by the vice president of San Francisco's school board, Alison Collins, as racist and anti-Asian. The posts resurfaced last week amid a surge of violence and harassment against Asian Americans in the San Francisco Bay Area and around the country. They are the latest embarrassment for San Francisco’s school board, which has prided itself on putting racial equity at the top of its agenda. Under a plan recently negotiated with its labor unions, San Francisco plans to phase-in the reopening of elementary school classrooms in mid-April.

"The Court finds that the need for statewide uniformity favors the state's interest in regulating assault weapons and LCMs," Hartman wrote. Attorneys for Boulder argued that the city ordinance was necessary because state law does not address assault weapons and large-capacity magazines. The National Rifle Association issued a celebratory press release after Boulder's assault weapon ban was struck down. Many states have since passed their own assault weapons laws, some more stringent than the federal ban. The president urged support for a ban on assault weapons on Tuesday, and called on the Senate to immediately pass House legislation to close background check loopholes.

Gavin Newsom says he'll appoint a Black woman to the U.S. Senate if Feinstein retires before her term ends in 2024. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday he expects and hopes Sen. Dianne Feinstein will serve her full term after suggesting the day before he's been thinking about her replacement. Newsom followed up Tuesday with extended and effusive praise for Feinstein, calling her a friend and mentor and praising her work in Washington. Feinstein and Newsom hail from San Francisco, a political power center where each served as mayor, though decades apart. Warschaw said she did not speak to Newsom but expects he heard from upset Feinstein supporters.

Washington — California Governor Gavin Newsom pledged to replace Senator Dianne Feinstein with a Black woman should the longtime Democratic senator resign her seat before the end of her term, he said in an interview Monday. "I have multiple names in mind," Newsom said of possible candidates to succeed the senator. Newsom, meanwhile, is under pressure to appoint a Black woman to fill California's next open Senate seat after failing to do so when Kamala Harris was elected vice president. Harris was the only Black woman in the upper chamber. The governor instead selected Alex Padilla, California's secretary of state, to replace Harris, and he became the first Latino to represent the state in the Senate.

Gavin Newsom says he'll appoint a Black woman to the U.S. Senate if Feinstein retires before her term ends in 2024. Gavin Newsom said Monday he'd appoint a Black woman to replace U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein if she retires before her term is up in 2024. “We have multiple names in mind and the answer is yes," he said during a interview on MSNBC's “The ReidOut" when asked if he would name a Black woman to the seat if given the chance. Newsom recently held that power after then-California Sen. Kamala Harris was elected vice president. He faced competing pressure to name a Latino and a Black woman and eventually chose Alex Padilla, making him California's first Latino U.S. senator.

Some Americans are receiving tax forms saying they owe money on unemployment benefits they never received. Unemployment benefits are taxable, so government agencies must send a tax form to people who received them. Her daughter-in-law and a friend also received the tax forms, as did Republican Gov. AdNow, overwhelmed unemployment agencies could face another onslaught — this time from people requesting corrected tax forms. He put a freeze on his credit and filed a fraud report with the state unemployment department, but so far hasn't heard anything back.

Changing the name of Dianne Feinstein Elementary school, named for the Democratic senator and former mayor of San Francisco, has raised eyebrows. For some San Francisco parents, the brush stroke was too broad. It's almost like a parody of leftist activism," said Gerald Kanapathy, a father of two young children, including a kindergartener at a San Francisco school not on the list. A pedestrian walks below a sign for Dianne Feinstein Elementary School in San Francisco on December 17, 2020. Holzer disagrees with the renaming of Abraham Lincoln High School, which the San Francisco committee said was due to the treatment of Native Americans during his administration.

FILE - In this March 12, 2020, file photo, George Washington High School stands in San Francisco. The San Francisco school board has voted to remove the names of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln from public schools after officials deemed them and other prominent figures, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein unworthy of the honor. After months of controversy, the board voted 6-1 Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, in favor of renaming 44 San Francisco school sites with new names with no connection to slavery, oppression, racism or similar criteria, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The decision by the San Francisco Board of Education in a 6-1 vote Tuesday night affects one-third of the city's schools and came nearly three years after the board started considering the idea. It’s almost like a parody of leftist activism,” said Gerald Kanapathy, a father of two young children, including a kindergartener at a San Francisco school not on the list.

The disgraced former San Diego congressman received one of the pardons issued Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, by President Donald Trump in the final hours of his term. The disgraced former San Diego congressman received one of the pardons issued Wednesday by President Donald Trump in the final hours of his term, which included several others with California connections. Trump granted him a conditional pardon, saying Cunningham tutored inmates while in prison and now volunteers for a local fire department. ELLIOTT BROIDYTrump granted a full pardon to Broidy, of Beverly Hills, a major Trump fundraiser and former Republican National Committee deputy finance chairman. Those supporting the pardon included California Republican Reps. Devin Nunes and Ken Calvert.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump vetoed a bill Friday that would have gradually ended the use of large-mesh drift gillnets deployed exclusively in federal waters off the coast of California, saying such legislation would increase reliance on imported seafood and worsen a multibillion-dollar seafood trade deficit. Trump also said in his veto message to the Senate that the legislation sponsored by Sens. But they said at least 60 other marine species — including whales, dolphins and sea lions — can also become entangled in the nets, where they are injured or die. In 2018, California passed a four-year phaseout of large-mesh drift gillnets in state waters to protect marine life. He said Americans will import more swordfish and other species from foreign sources without this fishery.

Gavin Newsom speaks at a COVID-19 testing facility in Valencia, Calif. As California Gov. Gavin Newsom's shoulders as he considers his pick to serve out the rest of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' Senate term through 2022. The South saw its highest number of Black Senate candidates ever this year, but none won races outright. Labor icon Dolores Huerta and California Latinas for Reproductive Justice want Newsom to appoint a Black woman. De Leon won the endorsement of the California Democratic Party and prominent labor unions, in part because of his support for immigrant rights and aggressive policies to curb climate change.

Myers, a former press secretary to President Bill Clinton, became a senior adviser to California Gov. She joins Jim DeBoo, a California consultant well-versed in the quirks of the state capital and statewide political campaigns, as a senior adviser to the governor. Beyond Myers, Newsom's new additions include DeBoo as senior adviser, making official on Jan. 1 a role he has informally held. Observers say adding him to Newsom's staff signals a desire for sharper political thinking and better connections with the state Legislature, but it could raise questions about special interests' access to the governor. Angie Wei, a Newsom adviser and former chief of staff for the California Labor Federation, is his new legislative affairs secretary.

WASHINGTON – California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Monday she will step down from her role as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, giving up the powerful spot after public criticism of her bipartisan outreach and her handling of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation hearings. Feinstein, 87, said in a statement that she would not seek the position in the next Congress. 2 Democrat, said he will seek to replace Feinstein as the committee's top Democrat. He led daily news conferences during breaks in the hearings with the other Democrats on the panel while Feinstein usually did not appear. “It’s time for Sen. Feinstein to step down from her leadership position on the Senate Judiciary Committee,” said Brian Fallon, the executive director of Demand Justice, which opposes conservative nominees to the courts.

Election Day is over but California already is consumed with its next high-profile political contest the competition to fill Kamala Harris' soon-to-be-vacant U.S. Senate seat. Padilla is one of a group of people being considered as one of the candidates for the Senate pick. A group of Black California lawmakers have organized a lobbying drive behind U.S. Rep. Karen Bass, who represents parts of Los Angeles and its suburbs. And they could wait: California’s other Senate seat is held by 87-year-old Dianne Feinstein, the chamber’s oldest member. Does Newsom run the risk of angering groups who lose out on the Senate pick and who might make his re-election bid more difficult?

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Judge Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to the Supreme Court on Thursday, clearing the way for a full Senate vote in the week before the election. All 12 Republicans on the committee voted to advance the nomination, while all 10 Democrats boycotted the vote. Reid and Senate Democrats invoked the 2013 rule change to circumvent Republican filibusters of Democratic nominees. Senate Democrats appeared at a press conference outside the Capitol on Thursday slamming the decision to push through with Barrett's nomination ahead of the election. Now that Barrett's nomination has been advanced by the committee, the final Senate confirmation vote is expected to occur the week of October 26, days before the election.

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday overcame a boycott by Democrats to approve Judge Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court, sending President Trump’s third pick for the high court to the full Senate for confirmation as early as next week. Barrett’s nomination is expected to move to the full Senate floor Friday. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) in particular has been under intense scrutiny by fellow Democrats after praising Graham’s handling of the nomination, undercutting Democrats’ message. Advertisement“Democratic members of the Judiciary Committee did not have the votes to defeat Judge Barrett in committee,” Feinstein said. On the Senate floor, Schumer asked the Senate to block the nomination because the quorum requirement was violated.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., shakes hands with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., at the close of the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. “This has been one of the best set of hearings that I’ve participated in,” Feinstein said at the Senate Judiciary Committee. “It’s time for Sen. Feinstein to step down from her leadership position on the Senate Judiciary Committee,” said Brian Fallon, the executive director of Demand Justice, which opposes conservative nominees to the courts. Trump has been able to install more than 200 judges on the federal bench and is now poised to seat his third justice on the Supreme Court. “Judiciary Committee Democrats had one goal this week: to show what’s at stake under a 6-3 conservative Supreme Court — and we did that,” Feinstein said.

Relying on a slim Senate majority, Trump's Republicans are poised to lock a 6-3 conservative court majority for years to come. A former Notre Dame Law School professor, Barrett would be the only one of her Supreme Court colleagues not groomed in the Ivy League. But Barrett is the most open opponent of abortion nominated to the Supreme Court in decades. Others testifying Thursday included Laura Wolk, the first blind woman to be a law clerk for the Supreme Court, who told senators that Barrett’s encouragement and support were life-changing. “Her brilliance is matched only by her compassion,” said Wolk, who also spent a year as a law clerk for Barrett.

Judge Amy Coney Barrett defended her independence and avoided answering direct inquiries on Wednesday during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that appeared unlikely to slow down her path to a Supreme Court confirmation ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election. The third day of Barrett's hearings featured a second round of questioning from each of the committee's 22 senators. Republicans projected confidence that Barrett will have the votes needed to be approved by the committee and the full Senate, and embraced what one called Barrett's "unashamedly pro-life" personal views. On Thursday, the committee will hear from experts for and against Barrett's confirmation, and a committee vote is expected Oct. 22. Liberal senators continued to target an upcoming case on the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, which the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Nov. 10.

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett speaks during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times via AP, Pool)WASHINGTON – Over and over, Amy Coney Barrett said she’d be her own judge if confirmed to the Supreme Court. Barrett's confirmation to the Supreme Court to take the seat of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg seems inevitable, as even some Senate Democrats acknowledged in Senate hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday. She called the Voting Rights Act a “triumph in the civil rights movement,” without discussing the specifics of the earlier challenge to it. The health care debate has been central to the week’s hearings, as Americans struggle during the pandemic, leading to a sharp exchange among senators at one point.

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett listens during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Barrett also said she could not answer whether Trump has the power to delay the general election, an idea the president floated earlier this year. Democrats say they have no interest in revisiting that issue during this confirmation process. This time, Democrats have focused on the effects on “real people” if the Affordable Care Act is overturned by the high court. AN “EXCRUCIATING” PROCESSBarrett said she accepted Trump’s nomination because she is “committed to the rule of law” and the role of the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett speaks during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, October 13, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Susan Walsh | AFP | Getty ImagesJudge Amy Coney Barrett got her first shot to address questions live from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, the second day of the Trump appointee's Supreme Court confirmation hearings. The doctrine generally means that Supreme Court justices try not to overturn previous cases without good reasons. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) speaks during the confirmation hearing for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 13, 2020. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) speaks during U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 13, 2020.

Yes, the Trump administration is asking the high court to throw out the Obama-era healthcare law, and if she is confirmed quickly Barrett could be on the Supreme Court when the court hears the case. Democrats also repeatedly brought up words Barrett wrote in 2017, when she was a law professor, criticizing Chief Justice John Roberts' 2012 opinion saving the Affordable Care Act. Barrett wrote that Roberts had "pushed the Affordable Care Act beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute." But the court could simply “sever” the mandate from the law and leave the rest of the law alone. One other key observer of the case suggested the Affordable Care Act would likely stand.

Committee chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., talk as Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett testifies during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020. Allowing Trump to fill the seat with Barrett “poses a threat to safe and legal abortion in our country," Harris said. And that table is the Supreme Court." Democrats warn that she would be a vote to undo the law and strip health coverage from millions of Americans. "I'm not hostile to the ACA,” Barrett told the senators.

Yes, the Trump administration is asking the high court to throw out the Obama-era healthcare law, and if she is confirmed quickly Barrett could be on the Supreme Court when the court hears the case. Democrats also repeatedly brought up words Barrett wrote in 2017, when she was a law professor, criticizing Chief Justice John Roberts' 2012 opinion saving the Affordable Care Act. Barrett wrote that Roberts had "pushed the Affordable Care Act beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute." But the court could simply “sever” the mandate from the law and leave the rest of the law alone. One other key observer of the case suggested the Affordable Care Act would likely stand.

A sharply divided Senate Judiciary Committee opened Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett on Monday, with little doubt about the eventual outcome and both sides looking to score political points as Election Day nears. Republicans, led by Committee Chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., defended holding the hearings despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and touted Barrett's qualifications. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the committee, quickly sought to turn the focus of the hearings to health care. Barrett has criticized Chief Justice John Roberts' legal reasoning upholding the law in a 2012 case. "If they succeed, it will result in millions of people losing access to health care at the worst possible time -- in the middle of the pandemic," she said.

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)WASHINGTON – The Latest on the Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett (all times local):5:50 p.m. The Senate Judiciary Committee has wrapped up the first of four days of planned Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett. She warned it’s not just health care that is at risk if Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed. Sen. Michael Lee was present for the start of Senate Judiciary Committee hearings Monday for Barrett. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham opened the hearing by defending holding the hearing so close to the presidential election.

The Senate Judiciary Committee this week is considering the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. The hearing will last a total of four days, and is expected to follow the same format as for other recent Supreme Court nominees. Circuit Court of Appeals and Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court. She was previously vetted for the vacant Supreme Court seat in 2018 that was filled instead by Brett M. Kavanaugh. Both Democrats and Republicans acknowledge she is qualified to serve on the Supreme Court.

FILE - In this June 2, 2020, file photo, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti arrives to appeal to Black Lives Matter protesters in downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel,File)LOS ANGELES – After a scrappy debate that Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey believed lifted her campaign and was a “disaster” for her opponent, she got a text message from the LA mayor with unwelcome news: He was switching his endorsement to her challenger. A little more than half is for Gascon, the vast majority from a handful of well-heeled backers supporting justice reforms. Gascon has gained support from protests over the death of George Floyd at the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer. Lacey said Gascon is pandering to supporters and that when he was San Francisco DA he never prosecuted a police killing case.

Hearings before the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee will begin Monday, Oct. 12, for President Donald Trumps Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett. SEN. KAMALA HARRIS, D-CALIF.Harris, Joe Biden's running mate in the presidential election, will again be in the spotlight as Democrats question a Trump nominee for the Supreme Court. Harris and other key Democrats said the hearings should not move forward without plans to test people attending, including senators, for coronavirus. In a sign of the heightened scrutiny, Vice President Mike Pence tried to get Harris to reveal whether she and Biden support expanding the Supreme Court, as many liberals advocate. In just three years on the 7th Circuit, Barrett has twice argued for approval of abortion restrictions that violated Supreme Court precedent, Hirono said.

Democrats are treading carefully on religious faith as they prepare to question President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee. “I don’t intend to question her about her personal views or private religious faith or views,” Coons, a key Biden ally, said this past week. Fearful of losing the high court for a generation, the left is demanding that Democrats resist Barrett's nomination with everything they have. Republicans have preemptively declared any discussion of Barrett’s faith out of bounds. But specifics about Barrett’s faith, such as broaching People of Praise, would have “a bad odor,” Franke said.

In this Oct. 1, 2020, photo, Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett, meets with Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., at the Capitol in Washington. Confirmation hearings begin Monday for President Donald Trumps Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. If confirmed, the 48-year-old appeals court judge would fill the seat of liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last month. (Graeme Jennings/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – Confirmation hearings begin Monday for President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. If confirmed, the 48-year-old appeals court judge would fill the seat of liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last month.

FILE - Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trumps nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, meets with Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. Barrett graduated with honors in 1994 from a small liberal arts school, Rhodes College in Memphis. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)WASHINGTON – Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are calling on the Justice Department to provide any missing materials from a questionnaire completed by Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. The letter was signed by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary panel, and nine other Democrats. “As Judge Barrett said on the day she was nominated, ‘A judge must apply the law as written.

Barrett tells the Senate Judiciary Committee that the White House initially contacted her Sept. 19, the day after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, creating the court vacancy. Trump made the offer when she visited the White House on Monday, Sept. 21, “and I accepted,” she wrote. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was “even more convinced” of Barrett after their brief meeting. The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to hold hearings Oct. 12. At the Capitol, Vice President Mike Pence said Barrett “represents the best of America.” The White House formally submitted the nomination Tuesday.

The court will hear a case challenging the constitutionality of President Barack Obama's health care law just after the election, adding to the urgency of the issue. Asked about Feinstein's earlier comments, Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, another committee member, said “religious faith should not be at issue here.” He then pivoted to health care. On Monday, Harris told voters in North Carolina that without the health care law, birth control coverage could be eliminated and pregnancy could be considered a preexisting condition. In focusing on health care, Democrats would be taking a different posture than in the last Supreme Court confirmation fight, when they argued that then-nominee Brett Kavanaugh was not fit to be a justice. They will also tie the health care issue to the pandemic and to abortion rights, the aides said.

If Trump wins the election, Biden said the president’s nominee should have a vote. No justice has ever been confirmed to the Supreme Court so close to a presidential election with early voting already underway in some states. Republicans believe the fight ahead will boost voter enthusiasm for Trump and Senate Republicans at serious risk of losing their majority. Democrats warn Barrett's confirmation would almost certainly undo Americans' health care protections as the high court takes up a case against the Affordable Care Act in the fall. Biden has said he would nominate the first Black woman to the court, but he has not released the names of his potential choices.

Biden on Sunday appealed directly to his former colleagues in the Senate to “take a step back from the brink." If Trump wins the election, his nominee should have a vote, Biden said, but if he wins the presidency, he should choose the next justice. Republicans believe the fight ahead will boost voter enthusiasm for Trump and Senate Republicans at serious risk of losing their majority. With only two of the 53 Republican senators voicing opposition to a confirmation vote before the Nov. 3 election, Democrats appeared outnumbered — and without recourse to block the nomination. Asked about potential House maneuvers to stall the nomination, such as impeaching Attorney General William Barr, Pelosi quipped, “What is the use of talking about that?” She stressed that Americans should “vote, vote, vote” to put Democrats in charge of the White House, House and Senate.

Within weeks, she is likely to be the newest associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. First among them was the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Scalia, but they also dug deeper. Months later, in the fall of 2017, Trump set about updating his list of potential nominees to the Supreme Court. Trump and McGahn set about elevating Barrett's profile for the next opening on the high court –- with Trump telling some aides he was “saving” her for Ginsburg's seat. “I am truly humbled by the prospect of serving on the Supreme Court,” she said.

Federal prosecutors are still investigating stock sales by Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina in advance of a coronavirus-fueled share price plunge, but are dropping investigations of such sales connected to three other senators: Kelly Loeffler, Jim Inhofe and Dianne Feinstein. Aides for Loeffler, R-Ga., Inhofe, D-Okla., and Feinstein, a California Democrat, confirmed to NBC News that the Department of Justice is no longer probing stock sales related to them. The FBI earlier this month seized Burr's cellphone at his home in Washington, D.C., as part of an ongoing criminal investigation. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) leaves the U.S. Capitol after voting in Washington, U.S., May 14, 2020. Burr on Feb. 13 sold stocks valued at between $630,000 and $1.7 million in 33 separate trades.

The Justice Department is dropping its inquiry into Sen. Dianne Feinstein over stock trades made as the novel coronavirus struck the U.S. and roiled the economy, a person familiar with the matter said. Loeffler sold stocks valued at $1.25 million to $3.1 million in late February and early March in companies whose value later dropped significantly. In January, Inhofe sold stocks worth as much as $750,000. The Justice Departments decision came a week after federal agents dramatically escalated an investigation into another senators trades before the stock market tanked in response to public health lockdowns that snarled the economy. The STOCK Act requires lawmakers to disclose their stock market activity but allows them to own stock, even in industries they might oversee.

Burr has previously denied any wrongdoing, saying he made the trades based solely on public information. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) was questioned last month by law enforcement about stock transactions by her husband, Richard Blum, shortly before stocks tumbled. The Intelligence Committee has also long praised the intelligence community, which Trump has questioned. Sean Davis, co-founder of the conservative online magazine the Federalist, tied the FBI raid to the panels Russia investigation, echoing the anger among some conservative Trump backers about the lengthy Senate investigation. AdvertisementAs chairman of Senate Intel, Richard Burr ran interference for the corrupt intelligence and law enforcement bureaucracy behind the attempted coup against Trump.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders also eclipsed Biden in resources across the electoral map, having raised $167 million in small donations through February, roughly twice what Biden collected. Money is also gushing into the super PAC supporting Biden, Unite the Country. This is where we have been at in every cycle since super PACs were born, he said. The super PAC affiliated with the National Nurses United union spent heavily on his behalf in 2016 and may do so again. Yet analysts generally agree that the flip-flop of her position on super PACs did not hurt her bid.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is pushing to delay a proposed disclosure of Secret Service spending on presidential travel until after the 2020 election, a spokesperson for Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Thursday. A Treasury Department spokesperson said in a statement that Mnuchin and Secret Service Director James Murray have been working over "the past several months" to return the Secret Service to the Treasury Department. "Conversations about the return of the Secret Service to the Treasury Department are ongoing, and we decline to comment on individual aspects of those conversations," the spokesperson said. "Secretary Mnuchin came to me last year with a proposal to move the Secret Service to the Treasury Department," Feinstein said in a statement provided to the Post. "As part of that effort, I proposed that the cost of presidential travel be included for greater transparency, accountability and oversight associated with protection during travel of presidents and their families."

A group of California congressional members have proposed tighter safety standards for small boats after a diving charter vessel burned and sank in September, killing 34 people. However, a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board said passengers who were asleep in bunks were trapped by flames that kept them from escaping or crew members on deck from reaching them. "The Conception boat fire was a tragedy that could have been prevented had stronger safety measures been in place," Feinstein said in a statement. After the blaze, the U.S. Coast Guard issued a safety bulletin that suggested boaters limit charging of such batteries. Authorities also have indicated that all crew members on the boat were asleep when the pre-dawn blaze erupted.

I am concerned that California is being unfairly targeted, Feinstein, a Democrat who represents the state, said in her letter to Charles Sheehan, deputy inspector general of the EPA. Feinstein disputed that backlogged state implementation plans were due to California inaction. Feinstein said by withholding highway funds, the EPA would deprive California one of its biggest tools to improve air quality. California had imposed strict state limits on vehicle emissions in defiance of Trumps attempts to roll back federal clean car regulations. On Thursday, EPAs Wheeler accused California of violating clean water laws by allowing human waste from homeless residents to enter waterways.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein on Friday called for a probe into whether a Trump administration threat earlier this week to withhold transportation funding from California over claims of poor air quality was politically driven. California had imposed strict state limits on vehicle emissions in defiance of Trumps attempts to roll back federal clean car regulations. Those tailpipe emissions are regulated separately from ambient air pollutants, but California argues the vehicle rules are essential to meeting those goals. And on Thursday, EPAs Wheeler accused California of violating clean water laws by allowing human waste from homeless residents to enter waterways. Feinstein said by withholding highway funds, the EPA would deprive California one of its biggest tools to improve its air quality.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), flanked by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) (not pictured) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) (not pictured) holds a news conference following the weekly Senate party caucus luncheons at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., September 10, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Democrat in the U.S. Senate, Chuck Schumer, on Tuesday said that President Donald Trumps recent promise to release the transcript of a phone call believed to be at the heart of a whistleblower complaint about Trump was not enough. We need the complaint, Schumer said. Simply to release the transcript is not going to come close.

REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstWASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday called on Senate Republicans to issue a subpoena for a whistleblower complaint from an unidentified U.S. government official and demand a transcript of President Donald Trumps July 25 call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. It is the Senates duty - duty - to take this national security matter seriously and investigate now. Senate Republicans have the sole power and the overwhelming responsibility to see that it does, Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor. He also said the Republican-controlled Senate should determine which administration officials directed security assistance for Ukraine to be delayed. Schumer said he made his request for a Senate investigation in a letter to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

In 2017, a flash drought led to a record 2,200 square miles (5,665 square kilometers) being burned in Montana. It will also seek to slow or stop lawsuits that block logging projects on federal land. Daines spokeswoman Katie Schoettler did not provide details but said the bill would address a past 9th U.S. Daines and other Montana leaders say those groups have abused the legal system by filing frivolous lawsuits to stop logging projects in national forests. The groups contend the logging projects have the potential to harm the habitat of threatened and endangered species, such as the Canada lynx.

Top Senate Democrat on the Select Committee on Intelligence, Dianne Feinstein, D-California, supports new legislation that stalls gun purchases for any individual who has been on a terror watch list. Less than 1% of names on the terror watch list are American-born, like the Orlando shooter.

CBS' "Face the Nation" brings you the latest debate and analysis following the tragedy in Orlando with Attorney General Loretta Lynch, NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre, and Senator Dianne Feinstein. Presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump weighs in from the campaign trail.

The latest on the terror threat at home and abroad, with more on the 2016 race for the White House, with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, Special Presidential Envoy Brett McGurk, and others.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, discusses the national security threats posed by the United States’ visa waiver program and how a bipartisan group on Capitol Hill intends to combat them

The unabridged version of the interview with Senate Intelligence Committee member Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, that aired on the November 22, 2015 broadcast of "Face the Nation"

Senate Intelligence Committee member Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, discusses the war against ISIS and threats to intelligence efforts during her appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation"

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, says that while it is very likely the Iran Deal will gain Congress’ approval, Israel should not doubt America’s commitment to its continued security.