The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. May 11, 2023 Sen. Dianne Feinstein Returns to Capitol Hill After Lengthy Illness ------------------------------------------------------------------- Senator Dianne Feinstein returned to Capitol Hill on Wednesday for the first time since announcing a diagnosis of shingles in February. The 89-year-old California Democrat said in a statement she would resume her duties with a lighter schedule. Feinstein has missed 91 floor votes in the Senate, and her absence stalled the advance of President Biden's judicial nominees, after Republicans denied Democrats' requests to temporarily replace Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Last year, the San Francisco Chronicle published a story raising concerns about Feinstein's mental faculties, and some of her colleagues, including California Congressmember Ro Khanna and New York's Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have called on Feinstein to retire immediately, saying she's unable to fulfill her duties. .