Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has handed over power of attorney to her daughter, even as she remains in the U.S. Senate.
Feinstein has prompted concern if not outright alarm in recent years amid numerous mental lapses in the public eye. Earlier this year, she missed more than two months due to shingles. When she returned, a reporter asked Feinstein about her absence, but the senator’s response suggested she was unaware she had been away from Washington, D.C.
On Thursday, the New York Times reported that Feinstein, 90, gave power of attorney to her daughter Katherine Feinstein, 66. The Times said Katherine is currently engaged in a nasty legal dispute with the three daughters of her mother’s late husband Richard Blum, who died in 2022:
In one legal dispute, the family is fighting over what’s described as Senator Feinstein’s desire to sell a beach house in an exclusive neighborhood in Stinson Beach, north of San Francisco. In another disagreement, the two factions are at odds over access to the proceeds of Mr. Blum’s life insurance, which Senator Feinstein says she needs to pay for her growing medical expenses.
[…]
Katherine Feinstein, 66, Senator Feinstein’s only child, who has power of attorney over her mother’s legal affairs, filed two lawsuits against Senator Feinstein’s co-trustees. The first lawsuit, over the beach house, says the property is in disrepair, that Senator Feinstein no longer wishes to use it, and that she wants to sell it this summer or fall.
Feinstein is not running for reelection in 2024, but she has rebuffed calls to resign from the Senate, which Democrats control 51 to 49. During her absence earlier this year, several of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees stalled in the Judiciary Committee, as Feinstein was not present to cast tie-breaking votes.
In an Appropriations Committee hearing last week, Feinstein began speaking about a defense spending bill at a time when she was simply supposed to cast a vote for or against the legislation. “Just say aye,” a fellow senator instructed her.
In May, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said Feinstein’s struggles are “painful to watch” and called on her to resign.
Seriously, is there anywhere else on the planet where 90+ year olds are still participating in government? We seriously need an upper age limit. She's 6 years older than the first jet powered aircraft for fuck's sake.
Age limits if not term limits. Get these geriatric fucking career politicians into retirement homes.
I'm way more in favor of upper age limits than I am of term limits.
Quite a few countries, apparently. Wikipedia list of top ten currently serving state leaders by age
I did find this from the Pew Research Centre about leader ages though while looking:
I propose stuffing and implanting her with animatronics so she can hit the vote button as and when required.
Same for all other geriatric politicians because they're all just objects slapping the vote button anyway.
Disney pioneered the technology.
While I understand the sentiment, directly encouraging someone to die like this is not acceptable on this magazine, so your comment has been removed. Please try to keep things civil.
How do we know she isn't dead already and this is some sort of Weekend at Bernie's thing.