Senator Dianne Feinstein Has Died at Age 90

Alexandra Whittaker
·2 min read
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dianne feinstein at an event
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Senator Dianne Feinstein has died at age 90. The California senator was the longest-serving female senator in United States history after more than 30 years in office.

NBC News was the first to report the news, saying several sources have confirmed her passing. Feinstein had the longest tenure of any woman in the chamber and any senator from California.

The late senator was also the oldest member of the Senate at the time of her passing and had announced plans to retire at the end of her term. (She also faced calls for resignation tied to concerns about her health.)

During her groundbreaking political career, Feinstein was a vocal advocate of gun control legislation.

“It’s simple logic: If you can’t buy a beer, you shouldn’t be able to buy an assault weapon. If you can’t buy a handgun, you shouldn’t be able to buy an AR-15,”she said on the Senate floor in June 2022 while speaking in support of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.

senator dianne feinstein on capitol hill
The late Sen. Dianne Feinstein walking through the Senate Subway on Capitol Hill in June 2022.

Kent Nishimura - Getty Images

Feinstein also achieved many firsts as she rose through the ranks of the male-dominated American political landscape.

She was California's first woman sent to the Senate, she was the first woman to sit on a Senate Judiciary Committee, she was the first chairwoman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, and she was also the first female chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

“It has been a great pleasure to watch more and more women walk the halls of the Senate,” she said back in November 2022, according to CNN.

When news of Feinstein's passing broke on Friday, September 29, women in politics were quick to weigh in with condolences, many of them using the descriptor "trailblazer."


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