When Sen. Dianne Feinstein entered a hearing room this month to reclaim her seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee after a monthslong absence, she was accompanied by a phalanx of aides.
Two staff members settled the 89-year-old California Democrat into a chair at the dais as the assembled senators greeted their ailing colleague with a round of applause. When Feinstein spoke — during a vote on one of several of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees whose approval had awaited her return — she appeared to read from a piece of paper handed to her by a female aide seated behind her.
Their roles have come under more scrutiny as a number of Democrats and many of Feinstein’s constituents are concerned about her refusal to relinquish a post that she is not capable of fulfilling without heavy and constant reliance on her aides. Since she has returned to work on a limited schedule as she recovers from shingles and multiple serious complications, Feinstein’s staff has made sure she is never alone and is heavily protected. The Capitol Police and the Senate sergeant-at-arms have gone to great lengths to keep Feinstein shielded from photographers and reporters, the Los Angeles Times reported, helping to create a bubble around her as staff runs interference on her behalf.
“They have a responsibility to give her brutally honest counsel and then adhere to her wishes, as she — and not they — were elected,” said David Axelrod, a former top adviser to former President Barack Obama. “And they have an obligation to help her meet her own responsibilities to her state and the office.”
Yet Feinstein’s staff has taken heat from critics on the left who have been angered at her refusal to step down immediately, and who argue that her aides are complicit in helping to prop up a lawmaker who should no longer be serving. Information is delivered to Feinstein in color-coded folders. There’s a format in place for submitting vote recommendations. And the office has a vast library of letters to draw on for responses to some 5 million pieces of correspondence from constituents it receives every year.
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