John Fetterman, Mitch McConnell return to Senate; Dianne Feinstein doesn’t

WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic Sen. John Fetterman each returned to the Capitol on Monday after significant medical absences, leaving just one senator, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, still away with no firm return date.

McConnell, 81, suffered a concussion and a broken rib from a March 8 fall at a Washington hotel. After several days within the hospital, the Kentucky Republican was moved to a rehab facility.

“Suffice to say this was not the primary time being hardheaded has served me thoroughly,” McConnell quipped Monday, during his first remarks on the Senate floor because the fall. “Pointless to say, I’m very glad to be back.”

Fetterman, a 53-year-old from Pennsylvania, stepped away from the Senate in February to hunt inpatient treatment for clinical depression at Water Reed Army Medical Center. He was released from the hospital in late March.

“I would like everyone to know that depression is treatable, and treatment works,” Fetterman said in a press release after return home from the hospital. “This is not about politics — right away there are people who find themselves suffering with depression in red counties and blue counties. Should you need assistance, please get help.” 

The return of each Fetterman and McConnell this week after the Senate’s Easter recess has served to spotlight the one senator who has not returned from their prolonged medical absence: the California lawmaker Feinstein, an 89-year-old who last voted within the Senate in early February. Because the Democratic caucus holds a 51-49 majority within the chamber and slim benefits on its committees, absences can stifle the progress of bills and nominations.

In March, Feinstein announced she had been hospitalized as a result of shingles, and said she hoped to return to Washington soon. But there remains to be no firm date for the senator’s return.

The fresh doubts about Feinstein’s health are available in addition to longstanding questions on her mental acuity. This mixture has sparked first private, and now increasingly public, calls for Feinstein to step down before 2025, when her current term in office ends.

However the senator has refused the pressure and dug in. In a press release last week, she said, “I intend to return as soon as possible once my medical team advises that it’s protected for me to travel. Within the meantime, I remain committed to the job and can proceed to do business from home in San Francisco.”

Feinstein did make one concession, agreeing to let Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer ask the Senate to approve his request to let someone temporarily fill her spot on the Judiciary Committee. The panel votes on whether to advance President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees.

But in an effort to fill that spot, Schumer needs either unanimous consent from senators to avoid a vote, or else 10 Republicans to vote with Democrats to interrupt a filibuster.

As of Monday, several Republican senators had already announced they might not green light a substitute by unanimous consent. The chances of 10 Republicans crossing party lines to assist Democrats also looked bleak.

Talking to reporters in Washington, Schumer said he was still optimistic that Republicans would help him fill Feinstein’s committee spot, and he intended to place it to a vote this week. But he declined to invest on when Feinstein might return to the Senate.

“I spoke to Senator Feinstein just a couple of days ago. She believes she is going to return soon. She’s very hopeful of that, and so am I,” said Schumer.