Feinstein matter stirs angst among some Senate peers

By MARY CLARE JALONICK
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dianne Feinstein isn’t the first senator to take an extended medical absence or face questions about age or cognitive abilities. But the open discussion over the 89-year-old California Democrat’s capacity to serve shows just how much the Senate has changed in recent years and how high-stakes partisanship has divided the once-collegial atmosphere. It also highlights the difficulty and the sensitivity surrounding Democrats’ uphill efforts to replace Feinstein’s vote on the Judiciary Committee as she recovers from a case of the shingles. With her absence, some of President Joe Biden’s picks for the federal bench have remained stalled in the committee.