The New Yorker reported Thursday about concerns being whispered by Democrats in the Senate about the apparent cognitive decline of California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the oldest member of the Senate at age 87. The piece’s reporting relies, in bulk, on unnamed sources that, when stitched together with shaky public appearances—like when Feinstein posed the same question, verbatim, twice in a row to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey during a hearing last month— paint a worrisome picture of the trailblazing senator who is currently the ranking member of the powerful Judiciary Committee.
Some of the criticisms of Feinstein’s performance are couched in her handling of the nominations of two judges that went on to the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Other concerns, however, are more foundational. From the New Yorker:
But many others familiar with Feinstein’s situation describe her as seriously struggling, and say it has been evident for several years. Speaking on background, and with respect for her accomplished career, they say her short-term memory has grown so poor that she often forgets she has been briefed on a topic, accusing her staff of failing to do so just after they have. They describe Feinstein as forgetting what she has said and getting upset when she can’t keep up. One aide to another senator described what he called a “Kabuki” meeting in which Feinstein’s staff tried to steer her through a proposed piece of legislation that she protested was “just words” which “make no sense.” Feinstein’s staff has said that sometimes she seems herself, and other times unreachable. “The staff is in such a bad position,” a former Senate aide who still has business in Congress said. “They have to defend her and make her seem normal.”
Feinstein’s backers tell the New Yorker these claims of decline are exaggerated and point out that the senate has a long history of male senators continuing on, often for years, as their ability to do the job dwindled in old age. Feinstein’s performance over the last years has set up difficult conversations about her role in the Senate and reportedly prompted Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to try to massage a graceful departure for Feinstein after 28 years in the Senate.
Schumer had several serious and painful talks with Feinstein, according to well-informed sources. Overtures were also made to enlist the help of Feinstein’s husband, Richard Blum. Feinstein, meanwhile, was surprised and upset by Schumer’s message. He had wanted her to step aside on her own terms, with her dignity intact, but “she wasn’t really all that aware of the extent to which she’d been compromised,” one well-informed Senate source told me. “It was hurtful and distressing to have it pointed out.” Compounding the problem, Feinstein seemed to forget about the conversations soon after they talked, so Schumer had to confront her again. “It was like Groundhog Day, but with the pain fresh each time.” Anyone who has tried to take the car keys away from an elderly relative knows how hard it can be, he said, adding that, in this case, “It wasn’t just about a car. It was about the U.S. Senate.”
Feinstein was reelected for a sixth-term in 2018.
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