California Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., differentiated between the prolonged absences from the Senate of Sens. John Fetterman, D-Penn., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., amid growing calls for Feinstein to resign, saying Feinstein has yet to solidify a return date while Fetterman has. 

‘[Sen. Feinstein] hasn’t been showing up and she has no intention. We don’t know if she’s even going to show up. She has no return date,’ Khanna told ‘Fox News Sunday’ host Shannon Bream. ‘In contrast, Senator Fetterman has said that he’s going to show back up on April 17. So, it’s one thing to take medical leave and come back. It’s another thing where you’re just not doing the job.’

Khanna made headlines last week for taking to Twitter to call for Feinstein’s resignation, writing, ‘We need to put the country ahead of personal loyalty,’ and saying she can ‘no longer fulfill her duties.’ 

Feinstein, 89, was hospitalized last month for shingles and has faced other health issues, including concerning reports related to her mental fitness. A recent statement from her office said she will continue to work from her home in San Francisco while also asking Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., ‘to ask the Senate to allow another Democratic senator to temporarily serve until I’m able to resume my committee work.’

Likewise, Fetterman checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for clinical depression a little over a month after starting his six-year Senate term. He was later released from the hospital on March 31 after a six-week hospital stay and is expected to pick up his Senate responsibilities this coming week. 

‘The reality here is there’s the sense, ‘Well you need to have a deference to these senators who have served so long.’ How about a deference to the American people? How about an expectation that if you sign up to do one of these jobs, you show up?’ Khanna said Sunday. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Fetterman’s office for comment but did not hear back in time for publication. 

Most recently, Khanna again took to Twitter to respond to whether sexism was truly behind the calls for Feinstein’s resignation, saying it was instead ‘common sense.’

‘Or is it common sense? There is no job I know of where you can just continue to not show up and people think that’s perfectly fine. We live in a democracy. The people are the boss,’ Khanna wrote on Thursday. 

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., recently suggested sexism was at play amid Feinstein’s resignations calls.

‘It’s interesting to me. I don’t know what political agendas are at work that are going after Sen. Feinstein in that way. I’ve never seen them go after a man who was sick in the Senate in that way,’ Pelosi told reporters Wednesday. 

A spokesperson for Pelosi told Fox News Digital that ‘Speaker Pelosi’s comment was not referencing any specific case, but commenting on the historic attitude.’

A number of individuals have already announced they will be running to replace Feinstein come her retirement in 2025, among them Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., whom Khanna has already endorsed. When asked if his calls for Feinstein’s resignation were politically motivated, Khanna said they have nothing to do with the current race. 

‘This has nothing to do with the current race because a caretaker would solve that. This has to do with someone who is just not showing up,’ Khanna said. ‘And I said out loud what people have been saying in private, and this is how the Beltway works.’

A  super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis released its first-ever television ad attacking former President Donald Trump on Sunday, pushing back on Trump’s own aggression toward DeSantis.

Never Back Down PAC titled the ad ‘Fight Democrats, not Republicans,’ and went after Trump for his recent attacks on the popular Florida governor. Trump has recently dubbed DeSantis ‘Ron DeSanctimonious’ and has pushed the claim that he wants to dismantle Social Security.

‘Donald Trump is being attacked by a Democrat prosecutor in New York, so why is he spending millions attacking the Republican governor of Florida?’ the ad begins. ‘Trump is stealing pages from the Biden-Pelosi playbook, repeating lies about social security.’

The ad goes on to play a soundbyte from DeSantis saying he and other Republicans have no plans to ‘mess with’ social security. It then also plays a clip of Trump himself saying entitlements and social security would ‘at some point’ be on the table for changes.

‘Trump should fight Democrats, not lie about Governor DeSantis,’ the ad says. ‘What happened to Donald Trump?’

Trump’s camp responded sharply: ‘DeSantis is colluding with his globalist handlers to go full Never Trump in order to gaslight the people into thinking that Medicare and Social Security should be ripped away from hard-working Americans. President Trump has made it clear that he will always stand on the side of Americans, and protect benefits seniors worked for and paid for their entire lives,’ said spokesperson Steven Cheung.

While DeSantis has yet to announce a presidential run for 2024, he is widely considered a strong potential challenger to Trump for the Republican nomination.

Beyond Trump and DeSantis, major players in the GOP primary race include former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and former Vice President Mike Pence. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has also formally entered the race, while former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said he does not plan to enter.

While Trump has held a relatively consistent lead over DeSantis in many polls, DeSantis world appears to be revving its engines in preparation for a widely-expected campaign announcement.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said Sunday that Republicans need to stop burying their ‘heads in the sand’ and move more to the center on abortion if they want to start winning elections again.

During an appearance on ‘Fox News Sunday,’ Mace slammed any anti-abortion policies that don’t explicitly provide exceptions for rape and incest or fail to offer solutions for women seeking OBGYN care.

‘We need to find a middle ground on this issue, and I have a great pro-life voting record,’ she said. ‘But some of the stances we take and especially when it comes to rape and incest, protecting the life of the mother, it’s so extreme that middle, independent voters, right of center, left of center, they cannot support us.’

‘We’ve got 14 counties in South Carolina that don’t have a single OBGYN doctor,’ she continued. ‘So, if we’re going to ban abortion, what are we doing to make sure women have access to birth control? What are we doing about, how do we improve adoption services in our country? What about the kids that are not wanted? What about our foster care system? What about getting nurses that can treat women who need OBGYN care in those rural areas? What are we doing about getting birth control over the counter at pharmacies? There are a lot of things that we can do to protect life and not alienate the independent voter.’

Mace argued that American voters have dramatically shifted to the left on abortion since the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.

‘We have not learned our lesson from the midterm election,’ she said. ‘We went mildly pro-choice to being a vast majority of voters being pro-choice after Roe v. Wade. It changed the entire electoral environment in ‘22.’

‘What I saw last year in the midterm elections, I saw us lose seats we should have won,’ she continued. ‘It feels like we’re burying our heads in the sand. And every time I stick my head out and I take a position, I take it very publicly. Republicans will call me privately and then I say, ‘Well, what bill can we do, do you want to do with me, what press conference?’ And then there’s silence. It’s crickets, and it’s tone deaf, and we’re afraid of the issue because we’re afraid of our base. But that’s not what the base is.’

Mace also responded to criticism from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, which said the congresswoman ‘denounced certain protections for unborn children’ and gave her a ‘B’ rating.

‘I find it ironic that Susan B Anthony would attack me,’ Mace said. ‘I’m a victim of rape, I advocate for women who have been raped, and that organization will no longer talk to my office about pro-life legislation because I’m talking about birth control. I mean, some of these groups have gotten so over the top and extreme.’

NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell admitted Sunday that people are ‘taking advantage’ of bail reform laws backed by Democrats in the state capital of Albany, while also lamenting that the ‘perception of feeling unsafe’ remains in the Big Apple despite the number of shootings and homicides being ‘down by the double digits.’

‘What do you say to those who still look at New York City as an unsafe hellscape where not only are the residents cowering in fear, but anyone who visits should cower,’ MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart asked the commissioner on ‘The Sunday Show.’

For the first quarter of 2022, New York City was down in five of the major crime categories, Sewell noted. 

‘The numbers mean one thing, but when we talk about the numbers, we have to understand that the numbers actually represent people, and that’s what matters,’ the commissioner said. ‘And if those people don’t feel safe in this city, that’s something we have to address as well. It’s not just a matter of making sure they are safe. It’s a matter of making sure they feel that safety as well. When people live in a safe city, they don’t think about it. When they feel as if though the city isn’t safe, that’s all they think about.’

‘And the mayor and I made sure that we took all of our partners to make sure that we address that perception, feeling of being unsafe,’ Sewell said. ‘And that’s not just the responsibility of the police department. That’s a responsibility for everyone. We say all the time that public safety is a shared responsibility. We work with social services, mental health professionals, the department of sanitation, because all of these things come into play when you’re making a city safe, and you’re making a city a place people feel they want to visit and work’ 

‘Bail reform is specifically mentioned by Republicans in this conversation. But your office is working to stem recidivism. Am I correct?’ Capehart asked. 

‘Recidivism is our focus. There are a limited number of people in this city that continue to commit a disproportionate number of crimes,’ Sewell said. ‘But I think when we talk about bail reform, we use that term, but it’s really criminal justice reform. There are a number of that legislation that present challenges for us and the criminal justice system in New York City as a whole. So while we are focused on recidivism, I have said over and over again that judges should have the ability to determine whether someone is a public safety threat, when they determine whether they should remand, set bail, or release.’

‘I think those reforms were well-meaning, but there are people taking advantage of those reforms, and it’s causing detriment to our city,’ the commissioner added. 

For the month of February 2023, overall index crime compared to February 2022 declined by 5.6% – driving a 0.4% reduction in overall index crime year-to-date compared to 2022, the NYPD said in a press release on March 3. February 2023 also saw the number of overall shooting incidents and murders in New York City both continue their week-over-week and month-over-month declines. Additionally, the number of hate crimes in New York City declined by 69% in February 2023 compared to the same period a year ago.

Citywide shooting incidents decreased in February by 14.7%, the NYPD said, further extending the double-digit declines of 2022 driven by steep reductions in the Bronx, Queens, and Northern Manhattan. Notably, the NYPD has driven a 10.5% decrease in citywide robberies in February 2023. 

‘We worked together with our partners, our DAs, our communities, our businesses to make sure we input precision policing to be able to go to the drivers of crime and those people who willingly commit crimes, who willingly possess illegal guns and use them against the people of this city,’ Sewell said. ‘So a number of things came into play. We have a gun violence strategies partnership. They meet every single day to go over the shootings and the arrests to be able to put forth the strongest cases possible for prosecution to be able to hold these people accountable, to be able to make sure they are suffering the consequences for their actions.’ 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams spoke of the crime rate in the Big Apple during a Friday appearance on CNN. The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a field hearing in New York on Monday led by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. CNN host Don Lemon noted that the hearing is intended to focus on how Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s policies have led to an increase in violent crime and dangerous communities for New York City residents. Bragg’s office is responsible for the indictment of former President Donald Trump.

‘New York City crime is really trending in the right direction. Shootings are down, homicides are down,’ Adams said in response. ‘We’re going up to the seven majors. If anything, he should be in a conversation with Police Commissioner Sewell to find out what we’re doing here. But this is really a charade, and it’s just unfortunate, during a time like this, they will use taxpayers dollars to host this charade.’

Several female Democratic senators were put on the spot Sunday on whether Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., should resign from the Senate amid her ongoing health issues, with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., saying time is running out for the 89-year-old to return.

Klobuchar said on ABC’s ‘This Week’ that Feinstein, who hasn’t voted since Feb. 16, ‘sure better’ return to the Senate in time for the vote to raise the debt ceiling this summer. 

‘In this case, we are going to need her vote on the Senate floor eventually,’ she said. ‘We have things like the debt ceiling coming up. But I think what we need to do is take her at her word, she’s recovering from shingles, and make sure she comes back. If this goes on month after month after month, then she’s going to have to make a decision with her family and her friends about what her future holds.’

‘Because this isn’t just about California. It’s also about the nation,’ she continued. ‘And we just can’t, with this one vote margin, and expect every other person to be there every single time. It’s going to become an issue as the months go by, but I’m taking her at her word that she’s going to return.’

Feinstein, who has served in the Senate for over 30 years, was hospitalized for shingles last month and has faced other health issues, including concerning reports related to her mental fitness. She had previously faced calls to resign prior to announcing her intention not to run for re-election earlier this year.

Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Dean Phillips, D-Minn., have led the call for Feinstein to resign.

‘While she has had a lifetime of public service, it is obvious she can no longer fulfill her duties. Not speaking out undermines our credibility as elected representatives of the people,’ Khanna said last week.

‘Sen. Feinstein is a remarkable American whose contributions to our country are immeasurable,’ Phillips said. ‘But I believe it’s now a dereliction of duty to remain in the Senate and a dereliction of duty for those who agree to remain quiet,’ he wrote.

Meanwhile, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY., took a similar tone as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in suggesting sexism was at play in the calls against Feinstein.

‘Her legacy and her depth of experience is valuable. And we have had so many senators who have had illnesses, whether it’s [Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell’s illnesses, or senators who have had strokes. These are issues that – we’re human,’ Gillibrand said on CNN’s ‘State of the Union.’

‘And we believe that a senator should be able to make their own judgments about when they’re retiring and when they’re not, and they all deserve a chance to get better and come back to work,’ she said. ‘She’s a team player, and she’s an extraordinary member of the Senate. It’s her right. She was voted by her state to be senator for six years, she has the right, in my opinion, to decide when she steps down.’

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., said on NBC News’ ‘Meet the Press’ that ‘it’s up to Dianne Feinstein and her family to decide whether she wants to keep on serving.’

‘I certainly wish Sen. Feinstein well, and I’m pleased that she has made the decision to have a fill-in on her seat on the Judiciary Committee,’ Baldwin said. ‘I think that is really an important and responsible thing to do during her absence, because we have President Biden’s nominees waiting for hearings and votes, and we want to keep that moving. But I wish her well and hope she returns to the Senate very soon.’

Feinstein said in a statement Wednesday that she plans to temporarily step down from the Judiciary Committee.

‘When I was first diagnosed with shingles, I expected to return by the end of the March work period,’ Feinstein said. ‘Unfortunately, my return to Washington has been delayed due to continued complications related to my diagnosis.

‘I intend to return as soon as possible once my medical team advises that it’s safe for me to travel. In the meantime, I remain committed to the job and will continue to work from home in San Francisco.’ 

Fox News’ Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.