Health concerns surrounding elderly Sen. Dianne Feinstein have become grave.
She has resisted calls to resign and continues to stay in her position in the U.S. Senate despite being one of the oldest lawmakers in United States history.
In recent weeks, Feinstein has been seen on video being told how to vote, has given power of attorney to her 66-year-old daughter, and was confined to a wheelchair after an extended hospital stay.
Now her office says Feinstein fell at home and had to be rushed to the hospital on Tuesday.
The 90-year-old California Democrat “briefly went to the hospital yesterday afternoon as a precaution after a minor fall in her home,” her office said in a statement.
She left the hospital later that day, said her spokesman Adam Russell, who provided no further details.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in a statement he spoke with Feinstein on Wednesday morning and downplayed the health concerns.
“She said she suffered no injuries and briefly went to the hospital as a precaution,” Schumer said. “I’m glad she is back home now and is doing well.”
The San Francisco hospital visit comes after Feinstein missed months of work in Washington earlier this year when she was hospitalized for the shingles virus and its side effects. Since her return to work in May, she has traveled the Capitol halls in a wheelchair and has often appeared confused and disoriented.
Feinstein has defended her ability to perform her job, though her office said in May that she was still experiencing vision and balance impairments from the shingles virus.
Feinstein, who took office in 1992, announced earlier this year that she would not seek reelection in 2024. Several Democrats have already entered the race to replace her.
During her hospitalization in the spring, some progressive House Democrats publicly called on her to resign, saying her absence had grounded the push to confirm President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees. However, leading establishment Democrats, including Biden and Schumer, publicly stood beside her.
Nonetheless, Feinstein’s retirement plans have sparked a competitive Democratic contest to replace her, led by a trio of House lawmakers, U.S. Reps. Barbara Lee, Katie Porter, and Adam Schiff.
If Feinstein resigns before the 2024 election, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom would name her replacement, potentially reordering the race to succeed her. The governor said in 2021 that he would only nominate a Black woman to fill the seat if Feinstein, who’s white, were to step aside.
Lee is Black, and becoming the incumbent could be a decisive advantage in the contest, but it’s unknown if Newsom would consider Lee, given that she is already running for the seat. Porter and Schiff are white.
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article