Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, appeared perplexed during a vote on a defence funding measure on Thursday, which prompted another Democrat to speak up.
Feinstein appeared to make a mistake during a vote at the Senate Appropriations Committee’s markup of bills on Thursday morning. Instead of responding with “yeah” or “no,” as was expected, she started to speak in favour of the proposal: “I would like to endorse a ‘yes’ vote on this. It contributes $823 billion.
An assistant whispered in Feinstein’s ear after about 15 seconds of her remarks. The committee’s D-Washington chair then instructed Feinstein to just vote “aye.”
“Aye,” Feinstein replied.
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After being corrected, Feinstein, 90, changed her vote from “no” to “yes.” She was afterwards heard voting against another measure.
As senators try to finish up federal spending bills before their six-week holiday, a Feinstein spokesperson described Thursday’s markup as “a little chaotic,” with senators “constantly switching back and forth between statements, votes, debate and the order of bills.”
The spokeswoman stated, “The senator was preoccupied and didn’t realise debate had just ended and a vote had been called.” She began to make a speech, learned that it was time for a vote, and then cast her ballot.
Feinstein fought back against a news report last year citing numerous unidentified lawmakers who questioned her ability to continue serving due to mental health. This year, she missed many months of work in Washington due to a bad case of shingles. She looked to struggle to respond to queries from reporters time and time again, and at one point, senatorial staffers shielded her from reporters who tried to capture images and videos of her.
During her extended absence, Feinstein’s Democratic colleagues called on her to quit, which made it difficult for them to approve some of President Joe Biden’s candidates because of her crucial vote on the Judiciary Committee. During her absence, the panel’s 11–10 majority became a 10–10 deadlock.
Democrats attempted to temporarily replace Feinstein on the committee with Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., but Republicans rejected the move, with many claiming they could not vote to facilitate Biden’s appointment of radical or otherwise objectionable judicial choices.
According to an NBC News count, Feinstein missed 91 floor votes while recuperating from shingles before she made her way back to the Senate floor in May.
The oldest senator in the body is Feinstein, who was first elected to the Senate in 1992. After serving in the Senate for thirty years, she has stated that she intends to leave Congress by the end of 2024.