Instead, the lawmaker said, they had to be re-introduced to Feinstein several times during an interaction that lasted several hours.
Instead of delving into politics, Feinstein, 88, repeated the same short-talk questions, such as asking the legislator what mattered to voters in their constituency, they said, without apparently acknowledging that the two had already had a similar conversation.
The incident was so disturbing that the lawmaker – who spoke to The Chronicle on condition that he would not be named because of the sensitivity of the issue – began to express concern with his colleagues to see if any intervention was possible to persuade Feinstein to withdraw. Feinstein’s term lasts until the end of 2024. The discussion took place several weeks before the death of her husband in February.
“I have worked with her for a long, long time to know what she was like just a few years ago: always in command, always in charge, above the details, I basically could not resist a discussion leading to a bill or an idea. “All this is gone,” said the legislator. “She was a spiritual and political force a while ago, and that’s why my meeting with her was so turbulent. “Because there was simply no trace of it.”
Four U.S. senators, including three Democrats, as well as three former Feinstein officials and a Democratic member of Congress in California, told the Chronicle in recent interviews that her memory was rapidly deteriorating. They said she could no longer do her job without her staff doing much of the work needed to represent California’s nearly 40 million people.
They said that the memory gaps do not seem to be stable and that some days it is almost as sharp as it used to be. During the March confirmation hearing for Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Feinstein appeared restrained as he read related questions, although he reiterated Jackson’s comments about the judge’s composure in the face of harsh interrogations. But some of her close associates said that in her most difficult days, she does not seem to fully recognize even her long-term colleagues.
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Feinstein and Senator Lindsey Graham (RS.C.) hug at the end of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett in October 2020.
Samuel Corum / Getty Images 2020 Show MoreShow Less2of2
From left: Senators Cory Booker (DN.J.), Feinstein and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) Speak before a Senate Justice Committee hearing in Washington, D.C. Padilla says Feinstein’s ability to do its job has not faded.
Stefani Reynolds / New York Times 2021 via ReduxShow MoreShow Less
“It’s bad and it’s getting worse,” said one Democratic senator. This person said that within the Senate, Feinstein finds it difficult to monitor debates and debates.
“There’s a joke on Hill, we have a great junior senator on Alex Padilla and experienced staff in Feinstein’s office,” said a California Democrat.
All those who expressed concern about Feinstein’s sharpness said it was painful because of their respect for the senator and her pioneering career. Everyone spoke on condition of anonymity because they said they did not want to jeopardize their relationship with her and their mutual friends and colleagues.
They spoke to The Chronicle before the death of Feinstein’s husband, financier Richard Blum, who was in critical condition while battling cancer. They said they were also sensitive to what Feinstein was going through.
Former staff members who spoke to The Chronicle have asked for anonymity, in part out of respect for Feinstein and because of restrictions on their current work.
The Chronicle agreed to protect the anonymity of each of these individuals, according to the newspaper’s policy on confidential sources, because of the importance of Feinstein’s ability to govern.
In a statement to The Chronicle on March 28, Feinstein said she was still doing a good job. He refused to be interviewed.
“The last year has been extremely painful and distracting for me as I flew back and forth to visit my dying husband who died just a few weeks ago,” she said. “But there is no doubt that I will continue to serve and deliver for the people of California and I will file my case against anyone.”
Other lawmakers defended Feinstein’s abilities in interviews with The Chronicle, noting that he raises relevant questions at committee hearings, votes as needed and oversees an office that remains a strong player in legislation and founding services.
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine volunteered that after a recent blizzard that caused him to be stuck in his car for 27 hours on his way to DC, Feinstein wrote him a handwritten letter expressing his regret for what he had experienced.
Some of these people seek to single out Feinstein at a time when Congress history is replete with old male politicians who have remained in power despite their decline.
Padilla has known Feinstein since the mid-1990s, when he worked for her for a while. “I’ve heard some of the same concerns,” Padilla said, “but as someone who sees her several times a week, including the Senate Judiciary Committee, I can tell you she still does the job and does it well.”
Several of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s colleagues say her memory gaps are inconsistent and seemed restrained when she questioned then-Supreme Court Justice candidate Ketanji Brown Jackson (left) during a hearing in March.
Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press
Parliament Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a statement to The Chronicle, said she had not noticed a decrease in Feinstein’s memory and noted her work on the recent re-enactment of the Violence Against Women Act and the confirmation of the Supreme Court.
“Senator Feinstein is a working horse for the people of California and a respected leader among her colleagues in the Senate,” Pelosi said. “He travels constantly between California and the Capitol, working tirelessly to ensure that the needs of Californians are met and voices are heard.”
Pelosi said it was “unconscious that just weeks after the loss of her beloved husband for more than four decades and after decades of exceptional leadership in our city and state, she was subjected to these ridiculous attacks that are below dignity in which he led. and the appreciation it receives “.
But new details about Feinstein’s situation raise questions about where to put a line in a legislature with no age or term limits.
Apart from resignation, death or the end of a term, there is only one way for senators to be removed from office: the vote of two-thirds of their peers. The Senate has expelled 15 members since 1789 – one for treason and 14 for supporting the Confederacy during the Civil War. A handful of other deportations have been investigated, usually for corruption, but in each case the legislature resigned before the vote.
Adding urgency to recent concerns: If Democrats retain control of the Senate next year, Feinstein will succeed Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy as Speaker of the Senate – putting him in third place for the presidency. Feinstein has submitted documents to the Federal Election Commission that would allow her to run in 2024, a formal process that allows her to keep her fundraising accounts active, although she has not yet stated whether she intends to run.
However, there is a sense of resignation about the situation in grief and frustration, the Chronicle found, as discussions on how to persuade Feinstein to step down have not yet yielded results.
“It should not end like this for her. “She deserves better,” said the California Democrat. “Those who think they are serving or honoring her by sweeping all this under the rug are doing her a great disservice.”
Concerns about Feinstein’s ability to keep up with her work followed her for years and intensified in 2020 when a series of accounts of her performance were released. Attention two years ago focused on the possibility of becoming chairman of the Judiciary Committee under President Biden.
At that time she defended her abilities. “I do not feel that my cognitive abilities have diminished,” he told the Los Angeles Times in December 2020. “Do I sometimes forget something? Very likely. “
He had responded to a New Yorker story in December 2020 stating that Feinstein was “seriously struggling” with memory loss. The article said that Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Sumer had to tell Feinstein more than once that he had to step down as chairman of the Justice Committee because he did not remember saying so.
Senator Feinstein repeats questions to Twitter executive Jack Dorsey, almost verbatim at a 2020 hearing. Video: C-SPAN
A month ago, he repeated a question to a witness, word for word, at a hearing without seemingly knowing that he did it, and he was shocked …
