U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) escorts Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) as she arrives at the U.S. Capitol following a long absence due to health issues on May 10, 2023 in Washington, DC. Feinstein was fighting a case of shingles and has been absent from the Senate for almost three months. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
In a hopeful sign for Democrats, Sen. Dianne Feinstein returned to the Senate in a wheelchair Wednesday after a months-long absence from a lingering bout of shingles and said in a statement she’s still suffering from side effects that impair her vision and balance, and that her doctors have advised her to work a reduced schedule.
Feinstein, the Senate’s oldest sitting member at 89, said in her first statement since her Tuesday flight back to the Capitol that she’s “prepared to resume my duties in the Senate” and is “grateful for all the well-wishers over the past couple of months and for the excellent care that I received from my medical team in San Francisco.”
Feinstein’s prolonged absence raised anxiety among Democrats, where her vote in the narrowly split Senate is key to moving her party’s agenda. Some progressive Democrats like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ro Khanna of Santa Clara have publicly called on her to step down if she can’t return to work.
On Wednesday, California’s senior senator missed a morning vote in which Democrats and a few Republicans confirmed an appointment. She arrived at the Senate around 3 p.m. in a silver Lexus, and was helped into a wheelchair at the curb.
Senator Dianne Feinstein is greeted by Sen. Schumer as she arrived at the Capitol this afternoon, after her long-awaited return, despite missing a vote this morning. @mercnews pic.twitter.com/IStFuUKVJG
— Harriet Blair Rowan (@HattieRowan) May 10, 2023
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, met her at her car, heartily shook her hand and walked alongside as she was quickly wheeled into the chamber. Feinstein raised her hand slightly to acknowledge reporters asking how she was feeling but gave no audible response. She participated in the Senate’s afternoon voting.
Feinstein said the Senate is “facing many important issues, but the most pressing is to ensure our government doesn’t default on its financial obligations.” She added that she’s looking forward to resuming her work with the Judiciary Committee to consider President Joe Biden’s nominees. The committee meets again Thursday.
But Feinstein added that “even though I’ve made significant progress and was able to return to Washington, I’m still experiencing some side effects from the shingles virus.”
“My doctors have advised me to work a lighter schedule as I return to the Senate,” Feinstein continued. “I’m hopeful those issues will subside as I continue to recover.”
Longtime allies like Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, have acknowledged her absence has held up the Democrats’ agenda, where some of President Biden’s judicial nominations have stalled and other priorities put on hold because of her missing vote. Feinstein last week pushed back on criticism that her absence has significantly stalled judicial appointments.
Her return to action will be key on Thursday, when the Judiciary Committee will again consider judicial appointments to the federal bench, including three — Charnelle Bjelkengren, S. Kato Crews and Marian F. Gaston — that have not advanced due to Republican opposition. Feinstein’s vote could advance them out of committee to the Senate floor.
Schumer said Tuesday, when word leaked that California’s senior senator was headed back to D.C., that he was “glad that my friend Dianne is back in the Senate and ready to roll up her sleeves and get to work.”
Feinstein said she was initially diagnosed with shingles on February 26 by her physician in San Francisco, was briefly hospitalized until March 6 and then returned home to continue her recovery.
In her most detailed comments yet on her affliction, Feinstein said she is still experiencing “temporary side effects from the virus” including vision and balance impairments, and that at times she may require the use of a wheelchair to travel around the Capitol.
Feinstein said she was previously vaccinated against shingles, which causes a painful rash in older adults who have been infected earlier with chickenpox, and she encouraged anyone eligible for the vaccine to discuss that option with their doctor. The virus is very painful and can cause serious complications and vision loss if it spreads to the face and eyes.
Thad Kousser, a University of California-San Diego political science professor, said Tuesday that Feinstein’s return to work would for now quiet questions that have circulated in recent years about her age and ability to fulfill her Senate duties. But those grumblings would likely grow louder if absences continue to affect the party agenda.
The vote Feinstein missed Wednesday morning was a confirmation of L. Felice Gorordo of Florida to be U.S. Alternate Executive Director of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. It passed 52-45 on a mostly party-line vote with Republicans Susan Collins, Mitt Romney and Michael Young joining Democrats in support.
