Could Dianne Feinstein Be Expelled From the Senate? Don't Count On It

Though she faces continuing pressure to step down voluntarily over concerns about her mental and physical health, there is little to no chance the Senate will step in to remove California Senator Dianne Feinstein from office before her term ends, experts have said.

Feinstein, 89, was recently absent from Washington D.C. for more than two months while she recovered from shingles. During this time, the Democrat missed dozens of Senate votes, with the Senate Judiciary Committee unable to confirm President Joe Biden's judicial nominees in her absence in case of a 10-10 split, which would be a losing vote for the Democrats in the panel they would normally have a majority in.

When Feinstein did return to the Capitol on May 10, she required a wheelchair, with one side of her face appearing partially paralyzed, and her left eye was almost entirely shut.

As well as her frail appearance, there were also concerns about her mental well-being after she told reporters "I haven't been gone [...] I've been here. I've been voting," soon after her return following her two-month absence.

Feinstein and her office have dismissed all calls for her to resign. The senator had previously confirmed she will not seek reelection in 2024 but intends to see out the rest of her term until January 2025.

While there are steps the Senate could take to force Feinstein from office, the likelihood is that unless she changes her mind and voluntarily steps down, the 89-year-old will remain a senator until next year, unless she dies in office.

Richard L. Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, said that it is extremely rare for the Senate, where the Democrats hold a slim 51-49 majority, to want to expel one of its own members, and it's improbable it would take that step in the case of the highly respected veteran Feinstein.

"The Constitution leaves it to the Senate to deal with its own members, and it seems quite unlikely that they will do anything to try to remove Sen. Feinstein," Hasan told Newsweek.

"The Senate is a very collegial place and they are not keen on policing one of their own. It seems far more likely if anything is going to happen it will happen if friends speak to her and try to convince her to step down."

Constitutional law states that a member of Congress can only be removed from office early by way of expulsion on grounds of "disorderly behavior" which is approved by a two thirds vote in the upper chamber.

However, this has only happened 15 times in U.S. history, 14 of which were senators who supported the Confederacy during the Civil War more than 160 years ago.

The last time a serving U.S. senator faced expulsion was in 1995 when Oregon Republican Robert W. Packwood faced allegations of sexual abuse and assault from around 10 women, but Packwood resigned from office before action could be taken.

While House Democrats such as the California congressman Ro Khanna have openly called for Feinstein to resign, crucially no senator has yet urged the 89-year-old to leave office.

It has since been revealed that Feinstein's shingles diagnosis also triggered an inflammation of the brain known as encephalitis, and facial paralysis known as Ramsay Hunt syndrome.

The previously undisclosed medical update prompted further fears that Feinstein's office was not fully disclosing the extent of her illness during her absence.

Josh Blackman, a constitutional law professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston, said that while the Constitution does not define what "disorderly behavior" is, he does not believe Feinstein's lengthy illness would meet that standard.

"There is no equivalent of a 25th Amendment for Senators, which allows for the removal of a president with a disability," Blackman told Newsweek. "There is a zero percent chance she is expelled."

Feinstein cannot even be removed from office by her constituents. While California is one of 19 states that allows for the recall of state and local officials, the law does not extend to federal politicians.

Following news of Feinstein's additional medical conditions, rep. Khanna renewed his calls for Feinstein to voluntarily leave office.

"I have a lot of respect for Senator Feinstein and I am wishing her the best in her return and recovery. That being said, I stand by my call for her to resign," Khanna said in a statement.

The last U.S. lawmaker to be removed from office was Ohio congressman James A. Traficant in 2002 after being convicted on corruption charges.

More recently, freshman New York GOP congressman George Santos is also at risk of expulsion after being charged with numerous offenses including embezzling money from his campaign, falsely receiving unemployment funds and lying to Congress about his finances.

Newsweek has contacted Feinstein's office for comment via email.