A former security engineer from Meta testified to Congress on Tuesday that the company chose not to respond to internal data indicating that more teenagers were being harmed by Instagram and Facebook than public data indicated.

Whither Dianne Feinstein?

Feinstein, a fixture of California politics for more than a half-century and a U.S. senator for three decades, recently returned to the Capitol after a weeks-long battle with shingles, a very debilitating disease.

One might have thought that her return, after much carping from those on the Democratic Party’s left wing about her absence, would quiet those who wanted her to resign.

Dianne Feinstein has become a painfully sad spectacle, being wheeled through the Capitol as she so visibly struggles to perform the basic duties of a United States senator. She has joined the ranks of formidable leaders who stayed in office too long. Yet at this point, I fear her resignation more than I fear her remaining in office. Since Feinstein effectively became the decisive vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee after the 2020 election, the window for her to resign without potential consequences to the judicial system was closed.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-CA) breathtakingly selfish refusal to step down from her Senate seat may be benefiting Republicans, who get to watch President Joe Biden's judicial confirmations stagnate as they wait for the California Democrat to show up to work. But there's little question that the hubris of Feinstein, who turns 90 next month, sets a precedent that is bad for the republic as a whole.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), giving no indication when she will return to the Senate amidst calls for her to resign from office, defended her absence and claimed there has been “no slowdown” of judicial nominees while she’s slowly recovering.

“The Senate continues to swiftly confirm highly qualified individuals to the federal judiciary, including seven more judicial nominees who were confirmed this week. There has been no slowdown,” Feinstein said in a statement on Thursday.

Supreme Court ethics and questions surrounding the conduct of Justice Clarence Thomas were on full display Tuesday at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

The panel heard from a range of legal experts on whether Congress has the authority to require the high court to adopt an enforaceable code of conduct. Democrats have pushed for such legislation following reports scrutinizing Justice Thomas' nondisclosure of private luxury travel and accommodations from a wealthy Republican donor.

"How low can the court go?" chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., asked as the hearing kicked off.

The Senate Judiciary Committee had only met once until this week to vote on President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees in the two months that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has been absent from the Senate.

The meetings are usually held on Thursdays but have been skipped or canceled for weeks at a time as Feinstein recovers from shingles at home in California.

Feinstein’s absence has left Democrats unable to move judges without Republican support, creating a logjam on the committee that has led to growing pressure for her to resign.

A growing number of Senate Republicans, including several on the Judiciary Committee, have announced their opposition to replacing Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) on the panel temporarily, adding to growing concern about how Democrats intend to move forward on judicial nominations stalled by the California senator’s health-related absence.

When the Senate comes back into session next week, Democrats will try to replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) on the Judiciary Committee temporarily since she has been away recovering from shingles. But swapping out the 89-year-old Democratic senator for another is easier said than done.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 89, insisted on Wednesday that she intends to return to the Senate “as soon as possible” after two House Democrats called for her immediate resignation, arguing that she can “no longer fulfill her duties.” 

“When I was first diagnosed with shingles, I expected to return by the end of the March work period. Unfortunately, my return to Washington has been delayed due to continued complications related to my diagnosis,” the California Democrat said in a statement.