WASHINGTON−Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., mistakenly started reading a statement during a routine vote Thursday − another awkward moment at the Capitol that has fueled questions about whether the 90-year-old lawmaker is in decline.
During a Senate Appropriations Committee markup, Feinstein was supposed to cast her vote on a Defense funding bill, saying either “aye” or “nay” after her name was called. Feinstein was prompted multiple times to vote, but she started reading prepared remarks supporting the legislation.
An aide went to the Feinstein’s side to guide her to vote, and shortly thereafter Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., told her, “Just say ‘aye.’”
She cast her vote, and the hearing continued − and so did the questions.
Feinstein was preoccupied during the lengthy committee markup, which came a day before lawmakers are set to leave the nation’s capitol for a recess, her office told USA TODAY.
Reporters have peppered Feinstein’s office with questions since she returned to Washington, D.C. in May after a nearly three-month absence. She was hospitalized with shingles in March. She also suffered from encephalitis, or brain inflammation, as well as Ramsay Hunt syndrome.
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“I have returned to Washington and am prepared to resume my duties in the Senate,” she said in a statement in May, explaining that she was advised by her doctors to work a lighter schedule.
But in the halls of the Capitol, where she was asked about her return, she told reporters she hadn’t left, seemingly unaware of her hospital stay and prolonged recovery at home.
Fellow California Democrats and members of her party from other states questioned her fitness for office and called on the 90-year-old senator to resign. Those calls drew criticism from top California Democrat and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said at the time, “I’ve never seen them go after a man who was sick in the Senate in that way.”
Feinstein has announced she will not seek reelection in 2024.
Concern for the senator, who has served in public office for decades, comes after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., froze for roughly 28 seconds during a press conference on Wednesday and was escorted away from a lectern by colleagues.
McConnell was able to return to the press conference, but the moment came just months after he suffered a concussion and a broken rib from a fall. He has also fallen at least two other times this year, including at a Washington, D.C. airport and during a foreign trip, a source close to the senator confirmed to USA TODAY.
