WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday said he was “hopeful” that fellow Democrat Dianne Feinstein, the chamber’s oldest member who has been absent since February while receiving treatment for shingles, can return next week.
Feinstein, 89, has not cast a vote since mid-February, effectively reducing her party’s narrow majority in the Senate by one to 50-49. Her absence also has complicated the ability of Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee to act on President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees.
“I talked to Senator Feinstein a few days ago and we’re hopeful that she can come back next week,” Schumer said at a press conference.
Feinstein, a liberal from California first elected to the Senate in 1992, has said she will not seek re-election in 2024.
She was diagnosed with a shingles virus infection in February and treated at a California hospital. She had said she would continue to work from home in San Francisco while receiving treatment for the shingles infection.
Feinstein, facing calls from some fellow Democrats to resign, said last month she would temporarily step down from the Judiciary Committee. Republicans have blocked Democratic plans to temporarily replace her on the panel.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Will Dunham)
