White House says Biden has ‘confidence’ in Sen Dianne Feinstein despite health concerns

Many people have raised questions about whether the 88-year-old Democrat can still do her job

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that President Joe Biden is confident that Senator Dianne Feinstein can still do her job.

Ms Psaki said on Monday that the president was confident that the California Democrat still can do her job.

“Yes. She’s a longtime friend, a proud public servant and someone he has long enjoyed serving with and working with,” she said, The Hill reported.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported last week that many in Congress, including four US senators, think Ms Feinstein’s memory is declining and that she is no longer fit to serve in the Senate. But Ms Feinstein pushed back on the allegation, saying that nobody has brought the issue up to her.

“I meet regularly with leaders,” she said last week. “I’m not isolated. I see people. My attendance is good. I put in the hours. We represent a huge state. And so I’m rather puzzled by all of this.”

Similarly, she said nobody had mentioned her memory to her.

“No, that conversation has not happened,” she said. “The real conversation is whether I’m an effective representative for 40 million people.”

Mr Biden and Ms Feinstein have known each other for years, going back to Mr Biden’s time as a senator, when Ms Feinstein worked on the assault weapons ban that became part of the 1994 Crime Bill that Mr Biden authored.

Ms Feinstein also endorsed Mr Biden in his 2020 presidential run instead of her fellow Californian Kamala Harris, who later became Mr Biden’s running mate.

The California Democrat was first elected to the Senate in 1992 and became one of the first two women senators from the state. Earlier this year, her husband Richard C Blum died of cancer.

Ms Feinstein has taken a diminished role in recent years, giving up Democrats’ top position on the Senate Judiciary Committee.