The office for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has confirmed to Scripps News that a report on the previously unknown severity of her condition was accurate.
A spokesperson for Sen. Feinstein, referring to a recent New York Times report, said, "The senator previously disclosed that she had several complications related to her shingles diagnosis. As discussed in the New York Times article, those complications included Ramsay Hunt syndrome and encephalitis."
On Thursday, the spokesperson said of the senator's health, "While the encephalitis resolved itself shortly after she was released from the hospital in March, she continues to have complications from Ramsay Hunt syndrome."
Scripps News reported in February that Sen. Feinstein, 89, announced that she would not seek reelection in 2024, but vowed to serve out the remainder of her term in Congress.
Feinstein said in a statement at the time, speaking on issues she has campaigned on in 2018, "Congress has enacted legislation on all of these topics over the past several years, but more needs to be done — and I will continue these efforts."
She said her focus for the remainder of her term would include efforts to combat wildfires and battle the homelessness crisis in California.
Feinstein said she also wants to continue to fight what she calls the "epidemic of gun violence."
"That's what I've done for the last 30 years, and that's what I plan to do for the next two years," Feinstein said in February.
Sen. Feinstein returns to Senate after shingles diagnosis
After missing 95 votes in a row, Sen. Feinstein has returned, giving Democrats a bit more breathing room in the nearly evenly divided Senate.
