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Should Dianne Feinstein, 87, resign? Senator’s ‘cognitive decline’ has left staff in a bad position, claim reports

A former Senate aide reportedly said, 'The staff have to defend her and make her seem normal'

Is the senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee Dianne Feinstein struggling with short term memory loss? At the age of eighty-seven, she’s the oldest member of the Senate whose mishap during Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme Court and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s questioning over the platform’s moderation of disinformation is being severely criticized. 

In the hearing from November 17, Feinstein asks Dorsey if his company was taking all the measures with respect to stemming the spread of misinformation. She mentioned one of President Donald Trump’s tweet claiming he had won the election, to ask if Twitter’s action against the tweet informed the readers it was false. After Dorsey responded, she repeated the same question word-to-word, while reading out Trump’s tweet yet again. 

And, during Barrett’s hearing, Feinstein was called out for questioning the former’s religious beliefs. The Senator had said, “Dogma and law are two different things. The dogma lives loudly in you—and that’s a concern.” According to the New Yorker, the Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was “so worried that Feinstein would mismanage Barrett’s confirmation hearings”, he put his former aide Max Young on the committee. 

Reportedly, rumors among Feinstein’s aides suggest that the senator is experiencing a “cognitive decline”. An aide of another senator told the publication about one “Kabuki” meeting, in which Feinstein’s staff tried to take her through proposed legislation, but she brushed it off as “Just words” which “makes no sense.”

A former Senate aide reportedly said, “The staff is in such a bad position. They have to defend her and make her seem normal.” And another declared, “It’s been a disaster”, and added, “Other members were constantly trying to go around her because, as chair, she didn’t want to do anything, and she also didn’t want them doing anything.”

The former staffer expressed that she’s still very “effective” as a human being, but “definitely been a deterioration in the last year. She’s in a very different mode now.”

People on social media have come forward to express their opinion about Feinstein's "cognitive decline", with many saying it's time for the Democrat to step down. One social media user wrote, "Dianne Feinstein has had a decades long career in public service. Her staff and Dem leaders should coax her to resign, painful as that may be to do, she will at least be able to end her career with her dignity in tact. California deserves a senator who can perform their duties." Another wrote, "Gonna be honest, there's a difference between ageism and a rightful questioning of somebody's mental capacity. Dianne Feinstein just needs to retire and live peacefully." Adding to the above tweets, another said, "This story about Dianne Feinstein is very sad. But I find it impossible to believe that before going public with the story, those around her did not advise her to step down. This seems like a desperate attempt to signal to her that she has to step down." Adding to these another user shared, "She is nothing but a road block for real progressive change. Dianne Feinstein must resign so Governor Newsom can appoint a strong fresh leader who will fight for the progressive values that we need."

MEAWW cannot independently verify and does not support any claims being made on the Internet.