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.
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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.
Power of attorney is a normal thing, and it doesn’t actually indicate that she’s unable to care for herself.
It’s something all people should seriously consider if they have a responsible adult child.
It has to be done BEFORE you’re actually in need, because you have to be competent to make the decision. It saves families a lot of drama if the person winds up in the hospital and someone needs to pay their bills, or needs to make other financial decisions while they’re incapacitated.
All that said, feinstein is definitely incapable of caring for herself, so she needs to go. But I wish people would stop demonizing this particular thing, since it has nothing to do with the actual issues.
No one is demonizing this particular thing. People are complaining about a senator who needs to give way to a younger, more progressive person.
Like a 70 year old. /s Jokes aside this highlights things well.
Seriously though, no one is demonizing the thing. They’re pointing out the thing adds strong evidence to the arguments they’ve been making for the better part of the last 20 years. When W Bush went under the knife he signed over power to Cheney. That’s the responsible thing to do. On the same token, Feinstein has indicated the likelihood that she is unable to serve her role in numerous ways, with this just being one more way. If she can no longer speak for herself, how can she speak for Californians? I live here, BTW. I’m affected directly.
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