According to a Thursday report, California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the oldest member of Congress, has returned home to handle a medical condition.

The Washington Post claimed that a Feinstein spokesman stated the 89-year-old senator is “dealing with a health matter.”

The spokeswoman stated that Feinstein “hopes to return to Washington soon” without offering any other information regarding the senator’s condition.

Feinstein is the second Democrat to vanish from Congress hallways during the current session. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who had a severe stroke during his campaign last spring, was recently admitted to a facility in Maryland to get treatment for mental depression.

Her spokesperson said the senator “hopes to return to Washington soon” but did not elaborate on when or specify what the health matter was.

The senior senator from California recently announced she would not seek reelection. https://t.co/HtiMMuJMd3

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 2, 2023

Even among her liberal admirers, there have been persistent rumors about Feinstein’s deteriorating mental and physical capabilities.

In April of last year, her local newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, ran an article proclaiming, “Colleagues worry Dianne Feinstein is now mentally unfit to serve, citing recent interactions.”

An unidentified California Democrat in Congress who has worked with Feinstein for 15 years was cited in the article. The politician recounted being introduced many times throughout the meeting.

During that interaction, Feinstein seemed only capable of repeating “the same small-talk questions, like asking the lawmaker what mattered to voters in their district … with no apparent recognition the two had already had a similar conversation,” the Chronicle reported.

“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,” the lawmaker told the Chronicle.

“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.”

Feinstein’s staff stated last month that the senator will not seek re-election in 2024, reigniting speculation about her mental capacity.

According to The Hill, when reporters asked her about the transfer on the day it was announced, she said she was unaware of it. CONTINUE READING…