WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the oldest member of Congress, fell in her dwelling and went to a hospital for a short while, her workplace mentioned on Wednesday.

The 90-year-old California Democrat, who has confronted mounting considerations about her well being and her potential to carry out the duties of a senator, “briefly went to the hospital yesterday afternoon as a precaution after a minor fall in her home,” her workplace mentioned in an announcement.

All of her scans had been clear, and he or she returned dwelling later Tuesday, mentioned her spokesman Adam Russell, who supplied no additional particulars.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York mentioned in an announcement he spoke with Feinstein on Wednesday morning.

“She said she suffered no injuries and briefly went to the hospital as a precaution,” Schumer mentioned. “I’m glad she is back home now and is doing well.”

The San Francisco hospital go to comes after Feinstein missed months of labor in Washington earlier this 12 months when she was hospitalized for the shingles virus and its unwanted effects. Since her return to work in May, she has traveled the Capitol halls in a wheelchair and has usually appeared confused and disoriented.

PHOTOS: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 90, falls at dwelling and goes to hospital, however scans are clear, her workplace says

Feinstein has defended her potential to carry out her job, although her workplace mentioned in May that she was nonetheless experiencing imaginative and prescient and steadiness impairments from the shingles virus.

Feinstein, who took workplace in 1992, introduced earlier this 12 months that she wouldn't search reelection in 2024. Several Democrats have already entered the race to interchange her.

During her hospitalization within the spring, some progressive House Democrats publicly referred to as on her to resign, saying her absence had grounded the push to substantiate President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees. However, main Democrats, together with Biden and Schumer, publicly stood beside her.

Nonetheless, Feinstein’s retirement plans have sparked a aggressive Democratic contest to interchange her, led by a trio of House lawmakers, U.S. Reps. Barbara Lee, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff.

If Feinstein resigns earlier than the 2024 election, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom would title her substitute, doubtlessly reordering the race to succeed her. The governor mentioned in 2021 that he would nominate a Black girl to fill the seat if Feinstein, who’s white, had been to step apart.

Lee is Black, and turning into the incumbent may very well be a decisive benefit within the contest, however it’s unknown if Newsom would think about Lee, on condition that she is already working for the seat. Porter and Schiff are white.

Feinstein has had a storied political profession that broke gender limitations as she rose from San Francisco’s City Hall to management posts within the U.S. Senate. She performed key roles in political battles over points together with reproductive rights and environmental safety, gaining a status as a practical centrist.

In latest years, nonetheless, she has taken a step again from senior roles on the Capitol. She relinquished the highest Democratic spot on the Judiciary Committee in 2020 amid criticism from liberals on how she dealt with the affirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett. And earlier this 12 months, she declined to function the Senate president professional tempore, probably the most senior member of the bulk social gathering who every day opens the Senate chamber, though she was in line to take action.

Feinstein had additionally requested to get replaced on the Senate Judiciary panel throughout her 10-week hospital keep earlier this 12 months, however Republicans declined to permit the substitute. Even after she returned, considerations continued that she wouldn't be capable to make it for each essential vote.

The Senate is predicted to renew work in Washington in early September.

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