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There has been some deadlock in the United States Congress over raising the country’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling. Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar said the current standoff over the debt ceiling indicates the stakes of fellow Democratic lawmaker Dianne Feinstein’s absence from Washington.
Klobuchar said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that Feinstein’s prolonged absence from Washington showed the stakes at hand over the standoff to raise the debt ceiling. The standoff has been taking place since January, when the Republicans, who control the House by a narrow margin, want to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for spending cuts. However, the Democrat-controlled Senate has insisted that the debt ceiling be raised without conditions.
“We are going to need her vote on the Senate floor eventually. We have things like the debt ceiling coming up,” said Klobuchar.
Feinstein has been facing calls from fellow Democrats to resign last week after she was sidelined since early March due to shingles. Wednesday last week, Feinstein said she would temporarily step down from the Senate judiciary committee until she recovers. Feinstein said at the time that she would continue to work from her home in San Francisco, which would keep her from voting in the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he would ask the Senate to allow another Democratic Senator to temporarily serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Klobuchar, who also serves on the committee, said Feinstein made the right decision to step down until she can resume work. However, Klobuchar said that the narrow majority the Democratic Party holds in the Senate could only cope with Feinstein’s absence for so long.
Aside from Feinstein, fellow Democratic Senator John Fetterman returned to Congress on Monday after being treated for clinical depression. Fetterman checked into a Washington-based hospital in February and was discharged in late March, his office announcing that his depression was in remission.
Fetterman flipped a Republican-held seat during the November midterm elections last year, expanding the Democrats’ majority by 51 to 49.
Fetterman’s office said the Pennsylvania senator would be chairing a hearing on Wednesday on the federal government’s food stamp program, or SNAP.
