California Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who announced earlier this week that she will not seek re-election in 2024, on Wednesday appeared to be confused about what action she had taken regarding a two-vote series in the Senate, according to a report.
“Did I vote for that?” Feinstein asked her longtime chief of staff, David Grannis, about a vote to approve a judicial nominee to the federal bench, Business Insider reported.
Grannis, who, according to the outlet, had already explained to Feinstein that the votes on Biden appointees would be taking place throughout the day, responded: “No.”
Describing the “most jarring part about the public episode,” the outlet reported that Grannis was attempting to help Feinstein understand what she needed to know about events taking place later that day, but the California senator, the oldest serving in the chamber at age 89, asked about something that had happened moments earlier.
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN APPEARS UNAWARE OF HER RETIREMENT ANNOUNCEMENT DURING REPORTER GAGGLE: REPORTS
Fox News Digital did not receive an immediate response from Feinstein’s office about the alleged incident.
Feinstein’s alleged statement on Wednesday is not the first instance that raised questions about her memory and cognitive abilities.
Feinstein, the longest serving female senator with a more than 60-year career in politics, said Tuesday that she will not seek a seventh term in office and intends “to accomplish as much for California as I can through the end of next year when my term ends” in 2025.
Following the announcement, Feinstein appeared unaware of her own retirement, telling reporters at the Capitol that she hadn’t made a decision on her future despite announcing just hours before that she would not be seeking re-election.
According to multiple reports, a Feinstein staffer quickly notified the senator that a statement had already been made on her retirement, prompting her to say she was unaware the information had been released.
“Asked by reporters about her announcement to resign, [Feinstein] says ‘If I haven’t made that decision, I haven’t released anything.’ A staffer then told the senator that a statement had been released. Feinstein responded saying ‘I didn’t know they put it out,’” one reporter wrote, later clarifying he meant “retire” instead of “resign.”
DIANNE FEINSTEIN ANNOUNCES SHE WILL NOT SEEK RE-ELECTION IN 2024
According to another report from Raw Story, which included an audio clip of Feinstein speaking to a reporter, she wasn’t aware that she was retiring at all.
“Oh, no, I’m not announcing anything. I will one day,” Feinstein told the outlet in an interview only an hour after her retirement was announced.
Fox News Digital reached out to Feinstein’s office for comment and received a statement from a spokesperson attributing the confusion to the timing of the retirement announcement.
“The senator approved it going out today, just confusion on timing. The senator was out of the office for votes, a meeting, lunch and more votes when the announcement was sent,” the spokesperson said.
Last year, a number of Feinstein’s Senate colleagues anonymously expressed concern that her memory was fading and that she no longer had the ability to serve.
Fox News’ Brandon Gillespie contributed to this article.