Senator Dianne Feinstein was briefly treated at a hospital Tuesday afternoon after a fall in her San Francisco home, a spokesman confirmed.
(Bloomberg) — Senator Dianne Feinstein was briefly treated at a hospital Tuesday afternoon after a fall in her San Francisco home, a spokesman confirmed.
Feinstein, 90, in May returned to the Capitol in a wheelchair after a three-month absence following hospitalization for shingles. Her absence stalled a handful of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees and sparked calls from a few progressive lawmakers for her resignation.
Feinstein, who represents California, is now the Senate’s longest-serving Democrat and its oldest current member. She’s faced questions about her health amid signs of cognitive decline in recent years.
Feinstein, “briefly went to the hospital” as “a precaution after a minor fall,” spokesman Adam Russell said in a statement Wednesday. “All of her scans were clear and she returned home.”
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement he spoke with Feinstein Wednesday morning.
“She said she suffered no injuries,” Schumer said. “I’m glad she is back home now and is doing well.”
Feinstein’s fall and brief hospitalization were first reported by the website TMZ. The Senate is on a recess for the month and will return after Labor Day.
In late July, just before the recess, Feinstein appeared confused during a committee vote on a defense spending bill, mistakenly reading from a prepared statement during a roll call tally instead of casting her vote. Senator Patty Murray, the committee chair, told her to “just say aye.”
Feinstein suffered serious complications in her bout with shingles. The complications included encephalitis and Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a neurological disorder that can arise from the shingles virus.
Feinstein stepped aside as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee after she was criticized by progressives over her handling of Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings just weeks before the 2020 presidential election.
She has served in the Senate since 1992 and is best known as the lead author of the 1994 assault weapons ban, which barred the manufacture of some semi-automatic firearms and large-capacity magazines. It expired in 2004 and has never been renewed.
(Updates with Schumer statement beginning with fifth paragraph)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.