Sen. Dianne Feinstein headed back to Washington on Tuesday, after being sidelined for months by a bout of shingles and facing mounting pressure from fellow Democrats to get back to work soon or resign.
Feinstein’s press secretary, Adam Russell, confirmed Tuesday she was traveling back to Washington to resume her Senate duties but had no further comment or statement. Feinstein had posted no update on her situation on her social media accounts. The San Francisco Chronicle, citing unnamed “sources close to the senator,” said Feinstein had “boarded a chartered private plane Tuesday” on her way back to Washington. She was expected to be back on the Senate floor on Wednesday.
“I’m glad that my friend Dianne is back in the Senate and ready to roll up her sleeves and get to work,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said in a statement.
The question now: Will Feinstein’s return quiet the gossipy intra-party sniping about her age and health as California’s senior senator rides out the remainder of her final term and ends her 30-year Senate career? She said in February she wouldn’t seek re-election in 2024 — after Democratic Reps. Katie Porter and Adam Schiff announced they’d run for her seat. Oakland Rep. Barbara Lee entered the race after Feinstein’s announcement.
At 89, Feinstein is the Senate’s oldest member, and she’s been rocked by recent articles questioning whether she remains sharp enough to fulfill her duties even before her absence due to shingles. Thad Kousser, a University of California-San Diego political science professor, said that “if she’s able to return and cast votes, that will change the conversation.”
“The easiest criticism is that somebody isn’t doing her job,” Kousser said. “So as long as Dianne Feinstein goes back to Washington, D.C., and casts her votes, I think that will quiet the calls for any additional move beyond the retirement she’s announced.”
Feinstein in early March said she’d been hospitalized for shingles, a painful viral rash that can strike older adults who’ve had chickenpox. On March 7, she said she was recovering at home and looked forward to returning to the Senate “as soon as possible.”
But as weeks went by with no further updates, she faced mounting pressure to give a timeline for her return or resign and allow Gov. Gavin Newsom to appoint a replacement. Feinstein’s absence in the narrowly split Senate has held up some judicial appointments, as well as the nomination of Julie Su as Secretary of Labor.
Her vote also would be critical if the Judiciary Committee were to launch an ethics inquiry of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and to help Congress reach accord on a looming June deadline on debt limits to avoid default.
Progressive Democrats like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ro Khanna of Santa Clara have openly called for Feinstein to step down if she can’t return to work. It was unclear whether her return Tuesday would satisfy their concerns. Both align with the party’s progressive wing, which has been frustrated with Feinstein’s collegial, centrist leanings. Khanna wasn’t available Tuesday to comment.
But pressure ticked up in the last week with the New York Times urging Feinstein to declare a timetable to return to Capitol Hill or step down, and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee on which Feinstein sits, telling CNN that “the business of the committee and of the Senate is affected by her absence.”
Schumer, had suggested Feinstein’s possible return this week, and Durbin told CNN on Sunday that he hoped that was true. On Monday, Time’s Washington correspondent wrote that Feinstein’s absence was “giving a masterclass in how to ruin a legacy.”
Most Democratic colleagues at least publicly have been reluctant to question Feinstein’s ability to fulfill her duties. Sixteen Senators, including Durbin, are 75 or older, and three others besides Feinstein are over 80. President Joe Biden, 80, has also faced growing questions about his mental sharpness.
Others like former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco last month sought to stifle talk about Feinstein’s age and capacity to continue working, saying “I’ve never seen them go after a man who was sick in the Senate in that way.”
John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat elected to the Senate last fall, has faced questions about his recovery from a stroke and missed two months this year while receiving treatment for depression before returning last month.
In one of her few remarks on her status, Feinstein last week issued a statement pushing back on criticism that she’s holding up judicial appointments, noting the Senate confirmed 21 district and circuit court nominees during her absence, including seven last week. Even in the Judiciary Committee, split 10 Democrats to 10 Republicans without her, Feinstein said it advanced eight district and circuit court nominees during her absence. Four nominations have stalled in committee, one due to Democrat concerns.
Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor who writes about judiciary appointments, said Feinstein had a point.
“I just think it’s been way overblown,” Tobias said. “She hasn’t really held them up that much. It’s just more inconvenient.”
Tobias added that although Feinstein in recent years hasn’t been as active on the Judiciary Committee, “she pitches in and does her work.”
“For a long time she’s been a very strong member on that committee,” Tobias said.
But Kousser said her Democratic colleagues may be less patient should Feinstein require more time away from the Senate.
“It takes some political courage to call out a senior member of your party,” Kousser said. “But once you’ve paid that political price, there’s no reason to be shy.”