Chuck Schumer Says He Had 'Long And Serious Talk' With Dianne Feinstein
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he had a “serious” conversation with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) after progressive groups decried her handling of last week’s confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.
“I’ve had a long and serious talk with Sen. Feinstein and that’s all I’ll say about it right now,” Schumer told HuffPost at a press conference on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.
Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, called the hearings “one of the best set of hearings that I’ve participated in” and at one point credited Barrett for her testimony, undercutting Democrats’ attempts to portray the hearings as “illegitimate” and a “sham” being rushed by Republicans on the eve of the upcoming presidential election. Feinstein also praised Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the chairman of the committee, for his leadership throughout the process.
Several progressive groups, including abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America and judicial advocacy group Demand Justice, called for Feinstein to be replaced as the top Democrat on the committee.
“Amy Barrett and this power grab pose a grave threat to every freedom and right we hold dear and tears the very fabric of our democracy. Americans ― whose lives hang in the balance ― deserve leadership that underscores how unprecedented, shameful and wrong this process is,” NARAL President Ilyse Hogue said in a statement on Friday.
Another prominent California Democrat who has been mentioned as a possible Senate candidate, Rep. Katie Porter, also said she disagreed with Feinstein’s assessment of the Barrett hearings.
“I disagree strongly with Sen. Feinstein that that set of hearings was one of the best or was even acceptable,” Porter said in an interview with HuffPost last week. “I think Amy Coney Barrett did not answer basic questions about her beliefs and stonewalled repeatedly. We got many fewer direct answers...
