I don’t understand why not retire. She held on to that seat till the bitter end, for what?

She could have had time with her family and we could have had a seamless replacement. Instead, she got to die at work (basically) and there is a hole in representation right as the government is about to shut down.

I wonder how this will impact the gov shutdown results

I don’t think she had full control of her faculties near the end. Her handlers and power of attorney should have forced her to retire but they didn’t.