Sen. Dianne Feinstein dead at 90
FOX News' Chad Pergram reports on Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein's passing and career.
California Senator Dianne Feinstein has died, sources tell Fox News. She was 90.
The longtime senator had suffered from extensive health issues for more than a year, leading many to wonder about her fitness for office. Her cause of death was unclear as of Friday morning.
Feinstein was present in the Senate on Wednesday and cast a vote at 11:45 a.m. ET, according to the congressional record.
However, she missed two votes later in the afternoon.
Senator Dianne Feinstein has died. She was 90. (Fox News)
Feinstein, the longest-serving female senator ever, was first elected to the role in 1992.
"Senator Feinstein led a bipartisan group of senators in passing legislation to drastically increase the fuel efficiency of cars. She was a leading voice in the effort to legalize gay marriage and ensure rights for LGBT Americans," a biography on her website reads.
WASHINGTON - JULY 20: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., listens during the Senate Judiciary Committee mark up hearing of S.359, the "Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act" on Thursday, July 20, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
"She’s a champion for the preservation of the Mojave Desert, Lake Tahoe and California’s forests. She helped create the nationwide AMBER Alert network, passed bills to criminalize border drug tunnels and has long focused on improving California’s water infrastructure and reducing the threat of wildfires," it added, noting that she has pushed for "commonsense gun laws."
Her biography says her "most notable achievements" are the "enactment of the federal Assault Weapons Ban in 1994" and the "six-year review of the CIA’s detention and interrogation program that culminated in the 2014 release of the report’s executive summary and passage of legislation ensuring that certain post-9/11 interrogation methods are never used again."
Dianne Feinstein, member of the California Women's Board of Terms and Paroles, June 24, 1964 (Bob Campbell/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
Prior to serving as a senator, Feinstein spent nine years as San Fransciso County Supervisor, beginning in 1969. She then became mayor of the city in 1978 and was elected to two four-year terms.
New York, NY. 7- 1992 Dianne Feinstein the Mayor of San Francisco addresses the Democratic National Convention. She would be elected to the Senate in Nov. of 1992. (Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty Images)
"Senator Feinstein’s career has been one of firsts," her website biography also says. "She was the first woman president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the first woman mayor of San Francisco, the first woman elected Senator of California, the first woman member and first woman ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the first woman to chair the Senate Rules and Administration Committee and the first woman to chair the Senate Intelligence Committee."
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Fox is told members of her staff have put flowers on Feinstein's desk on the Senate floor as of Friday morning.
This is a developing story and will be updated. Fox News' Aishah Hasnie and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.