WASHINGTON — The death of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, California's senior senator and a Democratic staple in the chamber, has put sudden pressure on California Gov. Gavin Newsom to appoint her replacement.
It also puts an additional spotlight on the 2024 election, when Feinstein's permanent replacement will be chosen by voters.
Who is running to replace Feinstein in the Senate?
Feinstein said earlier this year that she would not seek reelection in 2024 amid concerns about her health, sparking a race in the heavily Democratic state to replace her in the sharply divided Senate.
The race is currently a three-person contest between a trio of Democratic House members who are seemingly representative of three different facets of the party.
Rep. Katie Porter, one of the House's standout progressives, was the first to announce her candidacy.
Rep. Adam Schiff, who has positioned himself as a moderate in the House, soon after threw his hat in the ring.
And finally, Rep. Barbara Lee, a Black activist and the most liberal member of Congress out of the three, rounds out the contest.
Who will fill Feinstein's seat until 2024?
Newsom has previously promised to pick a Black woman to fill Feinstein's position if it opened up before the 2024 election, and many Democrats believed he would tap Lee.
But in an interview on NBC's Meet the Press, Newsom said he would instead appoint somebody not involved in the primary contest to replace her.
“Yes. Interim appointment. I don’t want to get involved in the primary,” Newsom told the network. “It would be completely unfair to the Democrats that have worked their tail off. That primary is just a matter of months away. I don’t want to tip the balance of that.”
On Friday, Newsom kept his cards close to his chest, and it remains unclear who he will choose to replace Feinstein.
On X, formerly Twitter, the governor posted a tribute to Feinstein's legacy, calling her an inspiration not only to him but to his wife and daughter.
But he was silent on the looming replacement question.
Speculation about possible candidates from outlets such as the New York Times points to an interim replacement with solid Democratic footing. Some names put forward include Shirley Weber, the California secretary of state; Holly Mitchell, a Los Angeles County supervisor; or civil rights lawyer Angela Glover Blackwell.
What happens in the Senate in the meantime?
The Senate is closely divided along party lines, even more so after Feinstein's death.
The Republican party has 49 members in the Senate, while the Democratic Party has 47. Three independent senators caucus with the Democrats, effectively giving them 50 seats.
But a government shutdown looms, with a deadline of midnight on Saturday before non-essential federal workers are furloughed. While the Senate advanced a bipartisan continued funding bill earlier this week, hoping to avoid the shutdown, it appears conservative Republican holdouts in the House are preventing that bill from coming to a vote.
It's unclear if Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader, will use the new vacancy as leverage to support House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in securing concessions from Democrats in future spending bills.
And the Senate's makeup could be shaken up further in the near future. Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey is currently under indictment on charges of accepting bribes. Menendez has denied the allegations and vowed not to resign, but some in his party have called on him to step down as he faces the criminal charges in court.