California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 89, returned to the Senate on Wednesday after a two-and-a-half-month absence due to illness, giving the Senate Democrats their 51st vote to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominees and raise the nation’s debt ceiling.
Looking noticeably thinner and frail, Feinstein is using a wheelchair to get around the Capitol as she continues to recover from a case of shingles.
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In a statement, Feinstein said she was continuing to recover from side effects of the shingles virus and would work a reduced schedule. Her office said that while she was initially diagnosed with shingles on Feb. 26 and briefly hospitalized, she is still experiencing side effects like vision and balance impairments.
“My doctors have advised me to work a lighter schedule as I return to the Senate,” Feinstein said in the statement. “I’m hopeful those issues will subside as I continue to recover.”
Upon arriving to the Senate Wednesday afternoon, Feinstein was helped into the wheelchair by aides and greeted by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer with a handshake and affectionate pat on the back.
Observers were alarmed by Feinstein’s appearance. One liberal pundit called it “a ghoulish spectacle.”
Take a look —
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) arrives to the U.S. Capitol Building on May 10, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) pic.twitter.com/7xiQotbIKI
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) May 10, 2023
The first images of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, returning to the US Senate for the first time in nearly three months. pic.twitter.com/mYVka3zvL6
— Gary Grumbach (@GaryGrumbach) May 10, 2023
Dianne Feinstein is 89 and clearly isn’t doing well.
It isn’t cruel to expect our leaders to be physically able to carry out the job they were elected to do — it’s cruel to keep them in office when they are incapable of doing so. pic.twitter.com/SGjLa14tgJ
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) May 10, 2023
Feinstein missed a vote on Tuesday evening and two votes on Wednesday morning, amid her reduced schedule.
Still, it remains unclear whether Feinstein will be able to be present for every crucial vote.
For this reason, Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna of California has called for Feinstein to resign immediately and for Gov. Gavin Newsom to appoint a replacement. Khanna called her absence “unacceptable” given President Joe Biden’s attempts to ram his judicial nominees through the 51-49 Senate.
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In her statement, Feinstein said that the “most pressing” issue facing the Senate is to raise the debt ceiling and avoid default. “I also look forward to resuming my work on the Judiciary Committee considering the president’s judicial nominees,” she said.
Feinstein had long served as the top-ranked Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. However, she enraged her liberal base in 2020 by asking softball questions to Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Feinstein quit her leadership post amid the controversy, but she’s remained on the committee.
Amid the calls to resign, Feinstein asked Schumer to hold a vote on appointing a temporary substitute to the committee. Republicans balked at this highly unusual request, and Schumer declined to hold a vote on this longshot appointment.
Feinstein attracted national attention in 1978 as president of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors. In 1978, she found the body of Supervisor Harvey Milk after his assassination by a co-worker. Afterward, she became known for advocating gun control, a Democrat priority.
Now, one poll has found 65 percent of Americans — and 64 percent of Democrats — favoring her resignation.
“Diane has had a great career,” one liberal said. “She needs to do the right thing and step aside.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.