Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein pushed back on claims she is mentally unfit to serve in the senate.
According to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle, Feinstein is in such bad shape that her own Democrat colleagues want her to retire before her term expires at the end of 2024.
The California Senator will be 91 years old when her term expires at the end of 2024.
According to Democrats who spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle on the condition of anonymity, Feinstein’s cognitive decline is so bad that a lawmaker had to reintroduce themselves to her multiple times during one encounter.
The Chronicle spoke with four US Senators and three former Feinstein staffers about the California Senator’s cognitive decline.
Feinstein pushed back on the claims she is mentally unfit and said she’s a very productive senator.
The Washington Post reported:
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is pushing back on lawmakers’ accounts that her memory has deteriorated and she is mentally unfit to serve, insisting that she remains a productive senator at the age of 88.
“The real question is whether I’m still an effective representative for 40 million Californians, and the record shows that I am,” she said in a statement Thursday.
Feinstein pointed to her leadership role in reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act with bipartisan support, which President Biden signed into law in March. And she said she had gotten more direct government funding for her state than nearly every other Democratic senator.
Feinstein, who was elected in 1992, has served as San Francisco mayor and president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Her current term ends in 2024. If she decides to retire early, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom would appoint a successor.