Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) was confused by the sight of Vice President Kamala Harris presiding over the upper chamber last year to cast a tie-breaking vote, according to a report touching on the difficulties the ailing lawmaker faces as she seeks to continue discharging her duties.
The New York Times piece comes as the California Democrat struggles on her return to D.C. after bouts of shingles and encephalitis and she seeks to reassert herself in her job.
According to Times White House reporter Annie Karnie, Feinstein expressed confusion to her colleagues when she saw Harris appear in the Senate in one of a host of tiebreaking votes the vice president has had to cast while assuming her constitutional role.
“What is she doing here?” Feinstein asked, the report details. The article ascribes the observation to “a person who witnessed the scene.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who recently returned to work after a months-long absence, had her incoming calls screened while she was recovering from shingles and “several” other undisclosed “complications.” https://t.co/IgZtBMPCI8
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) May 20, 2023
Feinstein’s ongoing battle with her health has been well documented, as Breitbart News reported.
She only returned to work in D.C. earlier this month after a three-month absence during which she reportedly had “several complications,” many of which have not been publicly disclosed, after she returned home from being hospitalized for shingles.
Plenty of Democrats called for Feinstein to retire from her seat at the time of her absence, a move she rejected outright.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) arrives to the U.S. Capitol Building on May 10, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) pic.twitter.com/7xiQotbIKI
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) May 10, 2023
She did agree to have her seat on the Judiciary Committee filled temporarily, but Republicans blocked Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) from replacing her on the panel in April with Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.).
Despite the pressure to resign, Dianne Feinstein can count on one supporter backing her to finish her term.
Twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has cautioned her to stay on in the face of Republicans who would seek to block Democrats from filling a vacancy on the Judiciary Committee and stall President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees, as Breitbart News reported.
