A spokeswoman for the senator declined to comment on the senator’s condition beyond a statement released by her office upon her return home, which said she was on a “light” schedule while suffering from vision and balance complications from shingles. problems.
Since her return, Feinstein has moved around the Capitol in a wheelchair. At the beginning of Mayand missed some votes.
As I recover from complications related to the shingles diagnosis, I am back in Washington, voting and attending committee meetings. In a statement, the senator said, “I will work for California and get results.
Over the years, the outgoing senator has resisted calls for her resignation, fueled by her memory and cognitive decline, as well as unsavory stories about her reliance on public-facing aides for her job. When she told a group of reporters this week that she had been absent for weeks, she said, “I was here,” and was confused when she said she wasn’t gone, the LA Times reported.
Democrats celebrated Feinstein’s return last week, as her vote is often critical to pushing their narrow majority in the Senate on priorities. Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), absent from the committee at a crucial time, returned May 12, and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (DN.Y.) shouted from the Senate floor the day he expected to “move forward on more judges.”
Republicans have blocked a proposal to have her fill in on the Judiciary Committee in her absence.