Longtime California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said she would temporarily leave the Judiciary Committee but not resign from the Senate, responding to pressure from some fellow Democrats to step down rather than serve out the rest of her final term.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is moving to temporarily replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., on the powerful Judiciary Committee, after Feinstein acknowledged medical complications from shingles have kept her sidelined for longer than expected.

The move could help Senate Democrats advance federal judges for confirmation — a key goal in any administration, but one that both parties have put particular focus on in recent years, as partisan divides have grown wider in U.S. society.

Attorney General Merrick Garland appeared before a Senate committee on Wednesday, where he faced a colorful array of questions on everything from the federal investigation into Hunter Biden to the sale of deadly drugs, Taylor Swift tickets and FBI investigations.

Garland’s nearly four-hour-long hearing before the Democratic-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee marked his first trip to Capitol Hill this year. It comes as investigations into President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have taken center stage in recent months.

Sen. Dick Durbin, now the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, has handled classified material many times during his 40 years in Washington. He said he's "concerned" about Joe Biden's apparent mishandling of it.

But Durbin also said he's concerned about the "endless investigations" promised by "MAGA Republicans" who now control the House of Representatives.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) announced his panel is reviewing "serious allegations" in a New York Times report Saturday that a 2014 Supreme Court ruling was leaked to a former anti-abortion activist weeks in advance.

The latest: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), who chair courts subcommittees, wrote to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to ask whether any action had been taken over the alleged 2014 leak and suggested they'd investigate if not, Politico first reported Sunday night.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said whistleblower allegations claiming FBI agents falsely labeled derogatory information on Hunter Biden as disinformation are "deeply troubling," but Republicans are calling on him to further acknowledge broader "politicization" within the bureau.

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday, Wray was asked by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., about allegations "highly credible whistleblowers" at the Justice Department and FBI shared with Sen. Chuck Grassley’s office last week.

The Senate delivered former President Donald Trump a bipartisan criminal justice reform deal shortly after the last midterm election. Staging a sequel for President Joe Biden this year won’t be so easy.

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday deadlocked along party lines on moving forward on President Joe Biden's U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, with the full Senate still expected to confirm her later in the week as the first Black woman to serve on the nation's top judicial body.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's historic nomination to be the first Black woman on the Supreme Court moved one step closer Monday afternoon.

The 22-member Senate Judiciary Committee, which is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, voted along party lines for an 11-11 tie, rather than offering a "favorable" or "unfavorable" recommendation. 

The Senate Judiciary Committee cast a deadlocked 11-11 vote on Monday on approving Democrat President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.