UPDATE: Republicans essentially blocked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) attempt to grant Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) temporary leave from the Judiciary Committee Tuesday.

“Our colleague and friend has made her wish clear,” Schumer said, per Roll Call. “Today, I am acting not just as leader, but as Diane’s friend in honoring her wishes until she returns to the Senate.”

But when Schumer requested full-Senate consent to grant Feinstein temporary leave, Republicans refused.

“This is about a handful of judges that you can’t get the votes for, and I have been a pretty consistent vote in the Judiciary Committee in a bipartisan fashion,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). “I understand that you won the election and we lost and I want to make sure we process judges fairly.”

Feinstein, 89, who will not run for a sixth term next year, must resign the Senate early or Democrats will not have the votes on the Judiciary Committee to approve Biden administration nominees for federal judgeships. She has been absent from the Senate since a shingles diagnosis in February.

•••

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has been away from Washington for most of the year, and in March announced she is suffering a case of the shingles. The Senate Judiciary Committee, of which she is a member, is backed up on White House nominees, Politico reports. The committee has held hearings for 14 Biden judicial nominees, but no votes.

Democrats’ 51-seat majority has fallen short for much of this year with the absence of Feinstein and freshman John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who is undergoing treatment for depression. Republicans also are one senator short after their minority leader, Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell, 81, suffered a concussion after he fell at a Washington hotel in early March. (McConnell was scheduled to return Monday.)

Feinstein, who has announced she will retire when her term ends in December 2024, has asked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to “temporarily” replace her on the committee, but that will take at least 60 votes or unanimous consent, Politico notes. Schumer has indicated he will seek the latter.

Calls for Feinstein to retire nearly two years early has its own issues. Democratic California Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee all have announced their candidacy for Feinstein’s Senate seat of 30 years. If Feinstein does not return to Washington, California Gov. Gavin Newsom must appoint a replacement to serve out the remaining 20 months of her term. In 2021, Newsom promised to appoint a Black woman if he had to replace Feinstein, which would give Rep. Lee the incumbent’s advantage for November 2024.