Elderly, 90-year-old Dianne Feinstein gives power of attorney to daughter, maintains Senate seat

Since she returned to the Capitol after a brief hospitalization, she has had several public mental struggles.

According to The New York Times, Feinstein relinquished power of attorney to her daughter Katherine Feinstein (66), partially to deal with ongoing legal challenges over the senator’s late husband Richard Blum’s estate involving his daughters from another relationship.

One of the lawsuits involves Blum’s life insurance, which the senator claims to need in order to cover medical expenses.

Earlier this year, Feinstein announced she would not run for re-election in 2024, after representing California for more than 30 years.

Some of her colleagues previously leaked to the media that her mental sharpness has been on the decline and staffers have been seen pushing her wheelchair, and reminding her how and when to vote.

Last week, during a vote on the $831.781 billion Defense Appropriations Bill in a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, while her colleagues simply said "aye" or "nay," the nonagenarian launched into a speech and had to be reined in by her aides, one of whom told her to "just say aye."

In January, during a vote on an antitrust bill pertaining to Google and Amazon favoring their own products over third parties on their sites, Feinstein was confused about the legislation contained.

Feinstein was briefly hospitalized in February for complications due to shingles. She was released to her San Francisco home, where she recovered for the next two months.

Upon her return to DC in May, she told reporters she had not been gone for months and insisted she had been at the Capitol voting the whole time during her absence.