SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 5 December 2023, Tuesday |

US Senator Feinstein back home after fall, brief hospitalization

Democratic U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, 90, was briefly hospitalized on Wednesday after suffering a slight fall in her San Francisco home, according to her office, the latest incident involving a crucial member of the committee that appoints federal judges.

“All of her scans were clear, and she returned home,” Feinstein’s office stated in a statement following a brief stay Tuesday night.

Feinstein, a member of the Democrats’ narrow 51-49 majority in the Senate, has suffered from a number of ailments recently, including a bout of shingles that kept her out of action for a month in April and May.

She is not the only senior lawmaker to suffer recent health scares. Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell was hospitalized earlier this year for treatment of a concussion after a March fall and last month froze up for about 21 seconds during a regularly scheduled press conference.

Feinstein is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee that plays a critical role in confirming presidential appointments of federal judges.

When she returned to the Senate in May, an aide said she was continuing to suffer from a medical complication known as Ramsay Hunt syndrome. Feinstein had also previously suffered encephalitis.

She has at times shown signs of confusion, at one point telling reporters that she had been present and voting, rather than absent for part of the year.

First elected to the Senate in 1992, Feinstein has said she will not seek re-election in 2024.

Democrats’ 51-seat Senate majority includes three independents. Congress is currently in its summer recess, with most lawmakers in their home states rather than Washington.

    Source:
  • Reuters