- The San Francisco Chronicle reported this month that Dianne Feinstein is experiencing memory loss.
- But when Insider asked Schumer whether he thought she was fit to serve, he declined to answer.
- "I've had a good number of discussions with Senator Feinstein, but I'm keeping them to myself," he said.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer declined on Tuesday to say whether he has confidence in Dianne Feinstein's ability to continue serving as the senior Democratic senator from California.
Insider asked Schumer at a press conference on Tuesday about a recent San Francisco Chronicle report revealing that several Democratic colleagues have raised concerns about the 88-year-old senator's apparent memory loss.
"No, they have not," he replied when asked if senators had raised any of the same concerns with him.
As for Feinstein herself, Schumer declined to say whether he had confidence in her ability to serve.
"I've had a good number of discussions with Senator Feinstein, but I'm keeping them to myself," he said.
A spokesperson for Schumer did not immediately replied to a request for clarification on his remarks.
The Chronicle reported that four different senators — including three Democrats — were worried that the 88-year-old senator's memory was rapidly deteriorating.
"It's bad, and it's getting worse," one Democratic senator anonymously told the Chronicle.
A House Democrat from California told the outlet that they considered staging some sort of intervention to get the California Democrat to retire early after she failed to recognize them in a recent meeting, despite working with her for 15 years.
"It shouldn't end this way for her. She deserves better," that same lawmaker told the Chronicle. "Those who think that they are serving her or honoring her by sweeping all of this under the rug are doing her an enormous disservice."
But some Democrats have defended Feinstein, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California.
"I've heard some of the same concerns," Padilla told the Chronicle, "but as someone who sees her multiple times a week, including on the Senate Judiciary Committee, I can tell you she's still doing the job and doing it well."
Feinstein, for her part, has defended her ability to serve in the wake of the report, saying she was "rather puzzled by all of this."
"I meet regularly with leaders," she told the Chronicle's editorial board. "I'm not isolated. I see people. My attendance is good. I put in the hours. We represent a huge state."
But it's not the first time that the question of Feinstein's fitness has been raised in the last two years.
After facing criticism from fellow liberals for her handling of Justice Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation hearing, Schumer reportedly had to tell Feinstein on two separate occasions to step down as the top Democrat on the committee, according to the New Yorker.
The New Yorker also reported in 2020 that Feinstein forgets conversations, only to get upset with her staff for not briefing her on a topic moments after they just had.
"The staff is in such a bad position," a former Senate aide told the outlet. "They have to defend her and make her seem normal."