Feinstein says she intends to serve full term

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said Tuesday that she intends to serve her full term, which runs into early 2025.

Feinstein’s comments, made to reporters in the Capitol, come after California Gov. Gavin Newsom said that he would name a Black woman to the seat if Feinstein retires.

Feinstein, 87, downplayed the comments from Newsom, and made clear that she has no plans to step down early.

“Please, we’re very good friends. I don’t think he meant that the way some people thought,” she told reporters when asked about Newsom’s comments.

Feinstein said that she hadn’t spoken to Newsom but that their relationship was “good and strong.”

“I mean you’re making a mountain out of a molehill,” she added.

Questions about if Feinstein would serve out her full term have swirled around Washington after she stepped down as the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee amid progressive backlash over her handling of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearing.

Feinstein fended off a progressive challenger during her 2018 reelection amid questions about her age. She turned 85 in 2018.

But Feinstein said Tuesday that she intends to serve out her full term.

“Absolutely,” she said about if she thought she was able to serve the full term. “I think that’s pretty obvious.”

Newsom, who is facing a recall effort, also tried to tamp down speculation that he was trying to hint at Feinstein that she should step down.

He told “The View” on Tuesday that he had “no expectation” that Feinstein was planning to step aside.

He added that she was “lucid and focused” and “committed to the cause of fighting not only for our state as a representative and the senior senator of California, but this nation.”