WASHINGTON—Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., will retire from Congress at the end of 2024 after three decades in the Senate and more than 50 years in public office, she announced Tuesday.
“I am announcing today that I will not be running for re-election in 2024, but I intend to accomplish as much as I can for California until the end of next year when my term ends,” Feinstein said in a statement.
Feinstein, 89, is the oldest sitting senator and the longest-serving senator from her state, having been first elected to the Senate in 1992. She had come under pressure for years from other Democrats in the state to make room for a younger generation of legislators The role in the new Congress of president pro tempore, which traditionally has traditionally gone to the oldest member of the majority party since the middle of the 20th century.
His retirement also opens his California Senate seat for the first time in decades. Several House Democrats have announced 2024 campaign bids for the position, including Reps. Katie Porter and Adam Schiff. Rep. Barbara Lee also plans to announce a Senate run by the end of the month, a source familiar with the situation confirmed.
Feinstein has worked under five presidential administrations and alongside the two presidents who also served with her in the Senate: Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Biden praised Feinstein in a statement Tuesday as “a passionate defender of civil liberties and a strong voice for national security policies that keep us safe while honoring our values.”
“I have served with more US senators than anyone else,” he said. “I can honestly say that Dianne Feinstein is one of her best. I look forward to continuing to work with her as she serves out her term.”
Feinstein said in her statement that she remains focused on passing legislation to address gun violence, promote economic growth and preserve American lands in her remaining time as a senator. Feinstein said she is confident Democrats can achieve those goals because of her previous work.
“Even with a divided Congress, we can still pass bills that will make life better,” he said. “Every one of us was sent here to solve problems. That’s what I’ve done for the last 30 years, and that’s what I plan to do for the next two years.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., applauded Feinstein in a statement, saying he “shattered countless glass ceilings.”
“When Dianne came to the Senate, there were only two female senators; today there are 25 serving, all of whom stand in a small part on Dianne’s shoulders,” she said. “Over the next few months, I know Dianne will continue to fiercely advocate for women’s rights in all aspects of life and she will unwaveringly represent the people of California.”
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who is now a rank-and-file member in the House, called Feinstein a “titan in the United States Senate, with a record that ranks among the best in the history”.
“Over the past thirty years, California and our country have been magnificently served by the leadership of Senator Feinstein: from our national security and personal safety, to the health of our people and our planet, to the strength of our Democracy,” Pelosi said. . in a sentence. He added that Feinstein “has not only accomplished a lot, but is determined to do even more in the last two years of his tenure.”
In April, Feinstein rejected a news report citing several anonymous colleagues who expressed concern that she was mentally unfit to serve. And as recently as December, she was still publicly broadcasting that she had no plans to retire.
Feinstein’s retirement caps a career focused on advocating for more restrictive gun measures, including defending the assault weapons ban that President Bill Clinton signed into law in 1994 and advancing restrictive laws since the ban expired in 2004. .
As a ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee during President Donald Trump’s four years in the White House, Feinstein led the Democrats’ line of attack against three Supreme Court justice nominees: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
Feinstein has also long been a fierce advocate for advancing gay rights and same-sex marriage. She was one of 14 senators who voted against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 and hailed the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize gay marriage.
He chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee while Obama was in the White House and led a six-year review of the CIA’s detention and interrogation program after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, leading to legislation that prohibited the use of such methods. of torture
Feinstein has been known for trying to find common ground with Republicans, sometimes receiving criticism from more progressive members of her party. She parted ways with them on a number of issues, including opposing government-run single-payer health care and the Green New Deal climate proposal, which she argued was politically and fiscally unfeasible.
He has been criticized at times for some of his positions. She voted, for example, in favor of the resolution authorizing the Iraq War, but later said she regretted the decision.
Before being elected to the Senate in 1992, she was San Francisco’s first female mayor and, before that, a member and chairwoman of the city’s Board of Supervisors. She became mayor after the murders of Mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California. Feinstein was the first person to find Milk’s body after he was shot.