This week in politics: Tim Scott takes a step closer to 2024; Feinstein pressed to resign

Republican Tim Scott gave the country the most serious indication yet that he wants to run for president in 2024.

By unveiling an exploratory committee the 57-year-old South Carolina senator can take the temperature on whether there’s enough support to formally launch a campaign.

Though he isn't an official candidate, it's rare for someone to do this and decide against running.

Scott is considered one of the more serious contenders who is looking to offer GOP primary voters an alternative to former President Donald Trump, who remains the presumed frontrunner despite his legal and political troubles.

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Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, of California, is retiring by forgoing reelection next year but that isn't fast enough for some progressives.

"It’s time for (her) to resign," Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said in tweet this week. "We need to put the country ahead of personal loyalty."

An arrest was made after top-secret U.S. military documents about the war in Ukraine were posted online in one of the biggest intelligence leaks in decades And abortion will once again be in the hands of the Supreme Court as a debate over a pill that can terminate a pregnancy turns into a courtroom battle.

What happened this week in politics?

• Republican Tim Scott is forming an exploratory committee and his announcement video reveals what his possible candidacy could look like.

• Democrat Dianne Feinstein is facing calls within her own party to resign, but former Speaker Nancy Pelosi has come to the 89-year-old senator's defense.

• Joe Biden's trip to Ireland gave the president a chance to talk about his heritage while commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement

• The Department of Defense is in full damage-control after a top-secret leak detailing U.S. activity in Ukraine's war with Russia.

• The abortion pill known mifepristone is at the center of the latest legal jousting over reproductive rights in the aftermath of the end of Roe v. Wade

Tim Scott inches closer to 2024 bid

The creation of an exploratory committee by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., is a major step toward a possible presidential run.

The South Carolina senator has been tinkering with a campaign infrastructure for months as the GOP field continues to take shape around former President Donald Trump as the presumed front-runner.

In a 3-minute video, Scott put a spotlight on his upbringing and religious beliefs while also promising that he would "never back down in defense of the conservative values that make America exceptional."

Elections: What Sen. Tim Scott does and doesn't say about race in 2024 exploratory announcement

If elected, Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, would make history as the country's first Black GOP president.

And he leaned into how he isn't going to adopt a colorblind candidacy when it comes to race, but rather one that speaks to America's redemptive values.

Feinstein under pressure to resign

A prolonged absence from Washington of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., created a squabble within the Democratic Party this week.

Reps. Ro Khanna of California and Dean Phillips of Minnesota both said the 89-year-old lawmaker needs to quit.

Feinstein – who isn't running for election in 2024 – is at home recovering from the shingles, but in a Senate which Democrats control by such a narrow margin, her absence means the Biden administration has pumped the brakes on its judicial nominations.

Things looked worse when she asked that another Democratic senator be allowed to temporarily fill her seat on the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee.

Politics: House Democrats call on Sen. Dianne Feinstein to resign

More: Pelosi disputes calls for Sen. Feinstein to resign: 'Never seen them go after a man who was sick'

But Feinstein has a powerful defender: Nancy Pelosi.

The former speaker told critics to back off, and suggested sexism was the root cause of their demands for Feinstein, first elected in 1992, to leave office immediately.

"It's interesting to me," Pelosi said. "I don't know what political agendas are at work that are going after Senator Feinstein in that way. I've never seen them go after a man who was sick in the Senate in that way."

Biden goes to Ireland

President Joe Biden's four-day swing through Ireland had it all.

There was a gaffe. There was a lot of talk about his Irish roots. There were security documents left on a Belfast street.

Biden has often trotted out how his Irish Catholic heritage is a central part of his political brand, and the president didn't shy away from that when visiting to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement that ended civil war in Northern Ireland.

During the trip, he delivered a 22-minute speech in which he said Northern Ireland must "recommit to renewal and repair" amid political unrest.

Graphic: 'The most Irish of all presidents': Joe Biden's family tree

More: It's not just Biden. Half of U.S. presidents have roots in Ireland.

"Northern Ireland will not go back, pray to God," Biden said during remarks at Ulster University in Belfast.

"The lesson of the Good Friday Agreement is this: At times when things seem fragile or easily broken, that is when hope and hard work is needed the most."

Pentagon leak

U.S. officials are clamping down after highly sensitive documents related to Ukraine war found their way onto the internet in one of the most stunning U.S. intelligence leaks in decades.

Among the leaks: data on military activities like U.S. drone spy planes in the region and sensitive information gathered about U.S. allies. The Justice Department – at the Pentagon's request – has been investigating the breach.

Federal authorities in Massachusetts made an arrest. Jack Teixeira, 21, a member of the intelligence wing of the Air National Guard, was taken into custody and was charged with leaking the classified documents in question.

Politics: Leak of secret Pentagon documents on Ukraine sparks probe, raises fears of more to come

Abortion pill still available – for now

America continues to wrestle with reproductive rights as a fight about access to an abortion pill known as mifepristone has turned into a dizzying legal battle.

This all started with a federal judge in Texas, who suspended the Food and Drug Administration's 23-year-old approval of mifepristone. A few minutes later, a federal judge in Washington made a its own ruling that ordered the FDA not to make any changes.

About a week later a federal appeals court in Louisiana sided with the White House, and kept the pill's approval in place.

Where we're at now is the Biden administration is asking the Supreme Court to intervene so that Americans can still get the drug, including via mail, without having to visit a doctor.

Progressive Democrats are nervous given high court's conservative tilt and anti-abortion rulings. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., suggested Biden should consider ignoring the Texas ruling.

Courts: What to know as mifepristone 'abortion pill' battle makes its way to Supreme Court

More: Can Biden ignore the courts? Some float defiance on abortion pill ruling. Experts say it's an explosive idea.

But the White House has resisted those calls, saying it would set a dangerous precedent "to disregard a binding decision."

The Supreme Court on Friday called a timeout by temporarily suspending the initial lower court's ruling so that justices have more time to review the case.

This maintains the status quo on the drug's access until Wednesday at midnight.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: This week in politics: Dems want Feinstein to resign;