Dianne Feinstein taken to hospital after fall at home

The oldest member of the US Senate was taken to hospital on Tuesday after “a minor fall in her home”, a spokesperson for her office has confirmed.

The fall at Senator Dianne Feinstein’s home in San Francisco, California was first reported on Wednesday by TMZ.

“All of her scans were clear and she returned home.” her spokesman Adam Russell said in a statement.

It is the latest incident in a string of health concerns plaguing the 90-year-old Democratic lawmaker.

Ms Feinstein, who has been in the US Senate since 1992, has faced questions for months – including from members of her own party – over alleged memory and cognition issues.

Earlier this year, she missed nearly three months of votes after being homebound in San Francisco following a shingles diagnosis.

Since returning to Capitol Hill, she has taken on a lighter schedule, gets around in a wheelchair and has frequently shown confusion during hallway interviews, committee hearings and floor votes.

Last month, widely-circulated footage from a committee vote showed Ms Feinstein launching into a speech in support of the measure as those around her frantically whisper “just say aye”.

The former San Francisco mayor has announced plans to retire from Congress at the end of 2024, but she has resisted calls to relinquish the seat before her term expires.

Her fall on Tuesday comes amid a New York Times report that Ms Feinstein’s only child Katherine holds power of attorney over her wealthy mother’s legal affairs amid an escalating family feud.

“The financial conflict is another element that makes the end of her career sad to people who have known her in the high points of her career,” Jerry Roberts, a Feinstein biographer, told the Times.

Calls for generational change in the ranks of America’s political class have grown louder in recent months.

Google searches for the word gerontocracy – a form of oligarchical rule by elderly people – soared after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell froze mid-sentence during a press conference last month.

Mr McConnell, 81, was loudly heckled with chants of “retire” as he spoke at an event in his home state of Kentucky on Saturday.

The trend extends beyond Congress, with US voters gearing up for a presidential election that looks likely to pit Democrat Joe Biden, 80, against Republican Donald Trump, 77, in a rematch.

Polls show that large numbers of voters from both parties share concerns about the advanced age and mental acuity of both men, particularly Mr Biden, already the nation’s oldest president.