Sen. Dianne Feinstein rejected reports of colleagues questioning her mental ability, insisting she remains qualified to serve.
The 88-year-old rejected allegations from fellow lawmakers that her memory is “rapidly deteriorating,” with the California Democrat touting her attendance record as evidence she’s up to the task.
“I meet regularly with leaders,” Feinstein said in a call with editorial board leaders of the San Francisco Chronicle, which published the original report of her colleagues’ accusations. “I’m not isolated. I see people. My attendance is good. I put in the hours. We represent a huge state. And so I’m rather puzzled by all of this.”
Feinstein, who has held her seat since 1992, added that she does not plan to step down.
LAWMAKERS WORRIED DIANNE FEINSTEIN’S MENTAL FITNESS ‘RAPIDLY DETERIORATING’: REPORT
Earlier Thursday, the paper cited at least four senators and three former staffers concerned about Feinstein’s ability to continue serving. One lawmaker claimed to have had to be reintroduced several times to Feinstein over several hours as they talked policy. The lawmaker also claimed to have spoken repeatedly with Feinstein about the same topics over several hours without any recognition from the senator that she had addressed the topic recently.
“I have worked with her for a long time and long enough to know what she was like just a few years ago: always in command, always in charge, on top of the details, basically couldn’t resist a conversation where she was driving some bill or some idea. All of that is gone,” one lawmaker said. “She was an intellectual and political force not that long ago, and that’s why my encounter with her was so jarring — because there was just no trace of that.”
It isn’t the first time Democrats have gone after the veteran lawmaker in recent years. Feinstein faced similar accusations of declining mental fitness when the New Yorker published a report in December 2020 repeating rumors that Feinstein struggled with cognitive decline, particularly in light of her conduct during the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
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Feinstein was the mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988.
