Concern grows for ailing Dem Senator Dianne Feinstein trends now

Senator Dianne Feinstein made her first Senate appearance in nearly three months due to health issues - but the ailing 89-year-old insisted she has been there the whole time. 

'No, I've been here. I've been voting,' Feinstein told reporters on Tuesday when they asked how she was feeling and what her colleagues thought of her return. 'Please. You either know or don't know.' 

The California senator has been on an extended absence following a case of shingles. She returned last week in a wheelchair and said in a statement she's on doctor's orders to work a lighter schedule.  

Feinstein showed up twice to vote and has attended committee hearings since she returned last week, but last Wednesday was the first time she had been at the U.S. Capitol since she left in February. 

Feinstein has faced calls to resign - even from her fellow Democrats - amid her health struggles and concerns that her absence could hold up confirmations of President Joe Biden's judges. She sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which holds the confirmation hearings. 

But she has refused to step down. Last month, Feinstein requested to be temporarily replaced on the Judiciary Committee.

Now, there is more concern for Feinstein, whose physical and mental capacity has deteriorated in recent years, after she appeared to forget that she had been absent the past two and a half months. 

When asked by a Slate reporter how she was feeling, the senator responded: 'Oh, I'm feeling fine. I have a problem with the leg.' 

Feinstein was then asked by another reporter about what the response had been from her colleagues since her return and gave an odd answer. 

'No, I haven't been gone,' she said. 'You should follow the—I haven't been gone. I've been working.'

The reporter asked if she meant that she had been working from home.

'No, I've been here. I've been voting,' she snapped back. 'Please. You either know or don't know.'