Concerns are growing for ailing Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein

Senator Dianne Feinstein caused confusion in her first Senate appearance in nearly three months by claiming she was there the whole time.

‘No, I’ve been here. I voted,” Feinstein told reporters on Tuesday when asked how she felt and what her colleagues thought of her return. ‘Please. You either know it or you don’t,” she added confusingly.

The California senator has been absent for a long time after a case of shingles. She returned last week in a wheelchair and said in a statement that she is on a lighter schedule on doctor’s orders.

Feinstein showed up to vote twice and has attended committee hearings since her return last week, but last Wednesday marked her first time at the Capitol since leaving in February.

Feinstein received a standing ovation when she returned last week and said in a statement that she is on a lighter schedule on doctor’s orders

Feinstein has faced calls to resign — even from her fellow Democrats — amid her health concerns and concerns that her absence could get in the way of confirmations from President Joe Biden’s judges. She sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which conducts the confirmation hearings.

But she refused to leave. Last month, Feinstein requested a temporary replacement on the Judiciary Committee.

Now there is more concern for Feinstein, whose physical and mental capacity has deteriorated in recent years, after she seemed to forget that she had been absent for the past two and a half months.

At the request of a Slate reporter how she felt, the senator replied, “Oh, I’m fine.” I have a problem with the leg.’

Feinstein was then asked by another reporter what the reaction of her colleagues had been since her return and gave a strange answer.

“No, I haven’t been away,” she said. “You need the… I haven’t been away. I have worked.’

The reporter asked if she meant she had been working from home.

‘No, I’ve been here. I voted,” she snapped back. ‘Please. You either know it or you don’t.’

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer greeted Senator Dianne Feinstein upon her return

“Hello everyone,” Feinstein said as she entered the building on Wednesday

When Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut was asked if there was any optimism that Feinstein could become a fully functioning, contributing member of the committee again, just like her old self.

“There’s one job no one else can do for us, and that’s voting,” Blumenthal said. “And she’s been doing that for the past few days, and as far as I know, she’s doing well.”

However, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said, “I’ll leave that to the medics.”

Feinstein arrived in the Senate on Wednesday after flying from California — where she was recuperating at her home in San Francisco — to Washington DC

“While I have made significant progress and was able to return to Washington, I am still experiencing some side effects from the shingles virus. My doctors have advised me to work a lighter schedule when I return to the Senate,” she said in a statement.

She then made her return to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, arriving nearly 90 minutes late and after some judicial candidates had already been voted on.

She received a standing ovation from both Republicans and Democrats on the panel when she joined them after being away due to health concerns.

Chairman Dick Durbin welcomed Senator Feinstein back

Senator Dianne Feinstein uses a wheelchair to move around the Capitol

Feinstein takes a seat at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill

Side effects include persistent pain known as postherpetic neuralgia, painful eye infections that can lead to vision loss, facial paralysis, or problems with hearing or balance, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Feinstein arrived in time to vote for the promotion of three of President Joe Biden’s nominees. She was fired by members of her own party for her extended absence from the Senate, which hampered confirmation from some judges.

Meanwhile, Feinstein has said she will not run for re-election in 2024.

The race to replace her is already competitive with several Democrats running to fill a Senate seat that hasn’t been vacant in 30 years, including Representatives Barbara Lee, Adam Schiff and Katie Porter.

There are concerns that if Feinstein were to step down, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom — who must nominate someone to serve her term — could disrupt the race to replace her by nominating someone who is already running for the seat.

He has said he would hire a black woman for the job. Rep. Lee is black.

And Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who led the latest round of calls for Feinstein’s resignation, has endorsed Lee in the primary to replace Feinstein.

California has a jungle primary, meaning the top two winners, regardless of party, advance to the general election. That means the heavily Democratic state could see two Democrats running in the November 2024 election.